A Miraculous Reveal - Miraculous Ladybug Fan fiction
by NoOptionsLeft
Summary: Just something I thought of when considering how lovestruck Adrien is by Ladybug. What might he do to learn the identity of the girl of his dreams? They say curiosity killed the cat. But when Cat Noir crosses the line to find out Ladybug's identity they have to tread carefully to keep their relationship together. Will his betrayal break them? Or will the tension make them stronger
1. Chapter 1

"I don't know, they're just so expensive," Marinette commented. Alya hummed thoughtfully, turning over the intricate ball-jointed Ladybug doll in her hands.

"Yeah, I'll have to think about it." she relented, gently placing the doll back on its stand next to the Cat Noir. Marinette glanced knowingly at the dolls before joining Alya to continue browsing through the cozy toy store.

"Are you seriously considering spending €250 on a Ladybug doll?" Marinette asked her. Alya picked up a cheap slinky and bounced it between her hands.

"No, I'm sure I can find something cheaper. But you have to admit it would be worth it, I mean the details on it are amazing." She responded enthusiastically.

"Eh, the yo-yo was a little small…" Marinette muttered thoughtfully, picking up a little black cat plushie.

"Huh? How would you know?" Alya asked, smiling curiously.

"Ehhh, I- I mean, its um, could get lost easily, that's all!" Marinette laughed nervously. Alya laughed and rolled her eyes.

"It's fine girl, I know you're secretly a huge Ladybug fan. Honestly, I was thinking the same thing about the yo-yo," she whispered. They laughed and continued looking around.

For a while Marinette was distracted buy some kids DIY kits, but Alya had found what she was looking for, so they decided to move on.

"Any plans for dinner tonight?" Marinette asked as the two meandered up the street towards a shopping centre.

"Yeah, I've gotta hit the books," Alya replied sadly. Marinette became frozen with fear and slapped her hands on her face.

"I forgot about the test... again." Marinette squeaked. Alya snorted patting Marinette's shoulder.

"You poor thing, you'd forget your head if it weren't attached. It's okay, we could always do a study group!" Alya suggested.

"Yea-"

In the distance, there was a huge _snap_ , like a huge balloon popping.

"What was that?!"

They glanced at each other and took off towards the sound. Several cars had screeched to a halt and dozens of people were crowding by an intersection. The sounds of car alarms and screams could be heard further down. When they joined the crowd they stopped dead in their tracks. Several blocks down there was an enormous glittering cloud that was bursting with colour.

"What…" Marinette muttered. Before she could finish, Alya ran off toward it without hesitation. Sensing trouble, Marinette took a few steps backwards and turned to run back down the street. She ducked into a random building and found herself in the empty stairwell of an apartment.

"Something strange is going on, and I am pretty sure hawkmoth is behind it." Marinette whispered harshly. Opening her purse Tikki zipped out and gave Marinette an encouraging nod. Marinette prepared herself and felt the magic swell inside her earrings.

"Tikki, spots on!" she called. Tikki spiralled into her left earring and disappeared with a flash leaving behind their signature Ladybug design. She closed her eyes as the magic of the miraculous filled her body like fire. When she opened her eyes, she was fully transformed

Adrien sighed and slid down into his seat. His father insisted that his outfit for his next photo shoot did not meet Agreste standards and so once again he had to spend his free time getting his clothes adjusted. Even school work was preferable to standing still and being poked at for an hour.

He perked up when he noticed a little girl with a Ladybug-spotted dress out the window. He smiled to himself when the little girl clumsily threw a little red yo-yo at her older brother. His bodyguard slammed on the breaks and he was jerked forward. The force of the stop nearly knocked the wind out of him and he gasped when he hit the back of his seat.

His bodyguard let out a grunt of shock and threw the car into reverse. There was a loud pop, and an explosion that forced the car backwards. Adrien craned forward to look out the windshield and saw a rushing flurry of sparkles and colour. The windows became plastered with confetti, and the car went dark.

The car stopped and became eerily silent, Adrien could hear his bodyguard pushing buttons on the dashboard. When the interior light came on he could see he was trying to use the windshield wipers but it didn't appear to be doing anything at all.

"Wha?" Adrien mumbled. He reached for the door handle but his bodyguard touched his shoulder to get his attention and shook his head. Adrien watched him force open his own door and quickly get out of the car.

"Ugh, another day in paradise," Plagg muttered from inside Adrien's shirt. Adrien unbuckled his seatbelt and reached into his jacket to pull out the sleepy kwami.

"I'll take a glitter explosion over modelling any day!" Adrien said excitedly.

"I'm sure we don't need to-" Plagg yawned.

"Claws out!" Adrien called. His ring flashed and Plagg flew out of Adrien's hands and swept into the miraculous.

Cat Noir turned in his seat and tried the door. It wouldn't move at first and he had to force it open with a sound reminiscent of ripping off tape. The street and the buildings in front of him were all completely covered in confetti, and some of the colourful paper was still falling gently down over the street like snow. He got out and shut the door quietly behind him, though it wasn't necessary due to the sound of car alarms and general panic from civilians.

"It's time for a Blowout! This party was over before it even started!" a man was cackling. The voice didn't sound close by, so he quickly turned to survey the area. He saw multiple people standing frozen, almost completely covered in confetti. Including a very large looking man standing not too far in front of his car.

He walked up to the man, his feet making sticky ripping sounds every time he took a step over the confetti. His bodyguard looked over at him from the corner of his eye, he was almost completely covered in it. He wiggled his arms, which were plastered to his sides, when the hero approached but it seemed that he almost couldn't move at all.

"Uh, hang in there sir. We'll take care of this." he nervously assured the silent man. Cat Noir lept upwards towards the side of a building, but the pull on his feet stole his momentum and caused him to fly into a streetlight.

"I had a feeling you were behind this." A familiar voice teased above him. His heart flickered and he smiled crookedly at Ladybug.

"You know I'd do anything to get your attention m'lady." he purred. He peeled himself off of the light and used his staff to join her on the confetti-less rooftop.

"This has got to be one of the strangest so far…" Ladybug muttered. She had her hands on her hips, looking down the street.

"It gets weirder." He warned. He lifted his arm and held his staff towards her, opening his hand and waving it around to show it was loosely stuck to his palm.

"Is there an annoying bug here to clean up this mess for me?" a wild voice asked. They looked around quickly to see the akuma, striding confidently down the street below them.

It was a middle-aged man in a moth-shaped mask with a solid navy blue military outfit and a white bulletproof vest. What stuck out the most was the belt of pearlescent pink grenades across his chest and the giant gun that was striped in a rainbow.

"I will once I get that gun away from you!" Ladybug retorted. Blowout immediately aimed his gun at the rooftop towards the heroes and fired a blast of confetti. It was much smaller than the explosion from earlier so they easily jumped out of the way. The villain launched himself up to the rooftop through the hail of confetti, with not a single piece sticking to himself.

Ladybug looked and Cat Noir and tilted her head towards him, gesturing at him to split up. They flanked the akuma.

"I don't think so!" Blowout yelled. He twisted and fired at the heroes, but they managed to split up fast enough to evade a majority of the blast.

"Ugh!" Ladybug cried. A few pieces of confetti had gotten stuck to her and she had to stop to pry her yo-yo off of her hand.

"M'lady, look out!" Cat Noir yelled. He leapt over the sticky part of the roof landing in front of her just in time for another blast of confetti. The force sent Cat Noir flying into Ladybug throwing them both off of the roof.

They got the wind knocked out of them as they hit the pavement and rolled a couple of feet towards the river. Ladybug silently thanked Tikki, she knew that if she weren't transformed a fall like that would be deadly. Triumphant laughter echoed overhead, urging the hero's to get to their feet. But Cat noir was face down and struggling to move.

"Mm shtuk." Cat Noir groaned, his entire front stuck to the pavement. She grabbed his arm without thinking and started to pull. He bent his arm and grabbed her hand to help pull himself off. With a sickening tearing sound Cat Noir's face and torso were pulled off of the pavement.

"Ow!" he yelled. A burst of confetti nearby alerted them to the villain. He landed a few meters away and aimed his gun at them.

"Pfft, too easy." he laughed.

As he approached, Ladybug threw her yo-yo skyward and yelled, "Lucky Charm!"

A ladybug-spotted umbrella materialized in mid-air and fell towards her waiting hands. She couldn't catch it though, and the Akuma watched humorously as the umbrella clattered uselessly on the ground. She would have caught it, but her right hand now had her yo-yo stuck in it and the other...

"Let go!" she demanded, feeling Cat Noir's hand still gripping hers.

"I really wish I could take credit for this m'lady, but I honestly can't let go," he said unconvincingly, with a big sheepish grin. Ladybug looked up, using her Ladybug vision to see what to do.

"Now, I'd like those magic accessories of yours." The akuma chuckled and walked towards them, with the heroes still in his sights. His gun lit up in a ladybug pattern, as she looked down so did the umbrella and Cat Noirs hand.

"Grab it!" she ordered him. With their right hands stuck together, Cat Noir had to turn his back to the Akuma to reach the umbrella with his left. The akuma stopped and pulled the trigger.

Cat Noir managed to open the umbrella and point it towards him in time for the blast, but the force snapped the ribs of the umbrella back into a closed position.

"Ugh, looks like this lucky charm was a one time use." Cat Noir bantered nervously. A purple butterfly symbol showed up briefly over Blowout's face.

"Right, Hawkmoth." the man chanted. He grinned menacingly and pointed the gun at them, but the heroes were running off towards the nearest buildings

"I can't grab my staff but this will have to do!" Cat Noir beamed at Ladybug, waving around the umbrella that was stuck in his hand. The gun burst behind them, coating their backs in a spattering of sticky confetti.

"Use your power!" Ladybug urged him.

"What!? I can't-"

She looked back at him urgently. A moment of panic flashed in her eyes as she swung him around to pull him out of the line of fire of another blast.

"Trust me! We can avoid his blasts if we're stuck together like this!" He grunted nervously, squeezing their stuck hands briefly.

"Cataclysm!" his hand didn't even give off its signature black smoke, the second he called out his power the confetti that had stuck their hands together released in a puff of grey dust.

"The gun!" Ladybug instructed. She spun in a tight circle and threw Cat Noir towards the akuma. The man gritted his teeth and raised his gun at the black-clad hero. Cat Noir ran at him, not entirely sure what to make of Ladybugs plan. But when he saw the wide end of the gun in front of him he grinned and speared the umbrella towards it.

The gun went off with Cat Noir directly in front of it. But the umbrella was firmly wedged, and now thoroughly stuck inside the barrel of the gun.

"What?!" that akuma cried. He pulled back on the gun, pulling Cat Noir along with him.

"Sorry, looks like you're stuck with me." Cat Noir purred, leaning on the end of the gun with his free arm. The akuma reached for his grenade belt, tearing one of the pink grenades out of the holsters.

"Oh no you don't!" Ladybug cried. She jumped up and brought her heel down on the gun, tearing it off of his hand and snapping it in half as it hit the ground. The force also brought Cat Noir to his knees since the umbrella was stuck to his hand but he was smiling at her all the same.

As the butterfly was freed from the gun the strange man fell to his knees.

"Well done." Cat Noir praised. The sound of a small metal object hitting the ground silenced them both immediately. They looked at the ground where the loose grenade sat, the pin on the ground next to it.

"Uh oh!" they said in unison. Cat Noir leaned forward to reach for it.

"No, it'll get stuck on your hand!" Ladybug warned him. He glanced up at her and kicked the grenade unceremoniously towards the river.

"We have to get rid of it." Ladybug said. She grabbed the umbrella, effectively pulling Cat Noir to his feet as well.

"Will this even work?" Cat Noir questioned; Ladybugs earrings gave a warning beep.

"No time to wonder, Miraculous Ladybug!" They thrust the umbrella skyward, a moment of tense silence was followed by the umbrella blinding them in a brilliant pink light. Instinctively, Cat Noir held up his left arm to guard Ladybug as thousands of ghostly insects poured out of the lucky charm to clean up the damage.

"No more evil-doing for you little akuma." Ladybug said. She pressed her yo-yo to open and tossed it in towards the loose akuma catching it deftly in mid-air. "Gotcha!

When she released the butterfly she looked down to where Cat Noir was helping the victim to his feet. He was an older man with greying hair and a weathered face, after thanking Cat Noir he stooped down to pick up the cheap little confetti gun that was on the ground.

"Great job today kitty, see you later!" Ladybug called in a hurry. Her earrings were down to two spots so she decided a quick exit was better than a graceful one. She grappled a street light and launched herself onto the rooftop.

"Wait!" Cat Noir called behind her.

"I have to go." she told him urgently. He landed behind her and extended his fist towards her.

"Pound it?" he asked. She smiled and turned to him.

"Pound it!" They said in unison, fist-bumping.

Cat Noir rubbed the back of his neck nervously, he felt bad bugging her about her identity, but the pain in his chest urged him.

"So... Ladybug-" he continued. He was cut off by another pair of beeps.

"Another time kitty." Ladybug snapped, she was still smiling but her frustration was evident. With that, she leapt off the edge of the building and swung out of sight.

The feeling of desperation crept up on him and he reacted blindly, grabbing his staff. He vaulted over the next building right behind her.

"What am I doing?" He said to himself. He clenched his fists tightly round his staff and watched in desperation for that flash of red, but she was nowhere to be found. He stopped and collapsed onto another roof.

 _Oh man, what did I just try to do_? He knew with this one simple action he would have betrayed her trust. He flopped down to take a breather, chastising himself for acting so callously. _She would hate for sure if she knew I tried to follow her._

Movement in the alley below caught his attention, so he crawled closer to the edge to take a look. Blue hair in pigtails, poking out from the corner of a dumpster. Ladybug craned around to check if the coast was clear.

 _Oh!_

Then a flash of pink light and Marinette was standing there instead.

 _Ohhhh._

He stared unblinkingly, his mouth hanging open. Marinette reached into her bag to give her kwami something. _Marinette's kwami._ She straightened her shirt, pulled out her cell phone and she said something he couldn't hear. He crawled backwards slowly, still clinging to his staff until it disappeared in his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

A tap, a poke, another poke, a sharp jab.

"Ouch!" Marinette gasped as Alya stabbed her nose with a pencil. Her dreamy haze disappearing in a flash. "Marinette, if I need to tell you to pay attention one more time you're going to the principal's office! Do I make myself clear?" Ms. Mendeleiev barked at her. Marinette blushed and ducked her head, "Yes ma'am." She could hear Chloe giggling on the other side of the room.

When class resumed Alya leaned over to her best friend and whispered, "What is up with you today girl?" Marinette shook her head. She glanced down and squeaked, quickly looking back at her book on the desk. Alya recognized that look and turned to glance at Adrien. She was surprised to see him looking up at Marinette with an odd expression. He looked away quickly again and fidgeted with his tablet without really paying it any attention.

Ohhhh! It's finally happening! She thought excitedly. Adrien glanced up at Marinette again, this time their eyes met and he froze. He smiled sweetly at her and waved gently. Her cheeks were bright red but she managed to wave back.

"Adrien! Are you distracting Marinette?" Ms. Mendeleiev said suddenly. Both students whisked around and looked to their teacher, "Uh- um- Nno Ma'am. A-Adrien didn't-" Marinette stammered. Adrien stood up and cut her off, "Yes, I'm sorry."

Chloe gasped incredulously and Alya hid a smirk behind her hand.  
"Both of you to the principal's office, now." the teacher commanded. The two grabbed their things and left without another complaint. As Marinette followed her crush out the door she briefly met eyes with Alya who gave her an encouraging wink on the way out. That caused Marinette to trip on nothing and fall into Adrien.

He caught her quickly as if he had been prepared for it and she opened her eyes to find his mere inches away. "GWAH!" She shrieked awkwardly when she realized. She jumped back from him as she tripped over her words, "Woah! I-I am so-sorry Adrien." He silenced her by putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Don't worry, you alright?" He said quietly. She was taken aback by his odd demeanour, but not trusting her voice she simply nodded. She continued following him down the walkway towards the principal's office until they came to a turn.

Marinette went to turn right but she felt a tight grip on her forearm pulling her in the opposite direction. "Come on." He said suddenly and she made a 'gah!' sound as Adrien suddenly began running, pulling her down the stairs and across the gym towards the building's entrance.

"Ah-Adrien where are you taking me?" She asked breathlessly. They burst out of the main doors of the school and down the stairs. "Somewhere private, we need to talk." He said urgently

The word 'private' kept echoing in Marinette's head and she would swear that steam was coming out of her ears.

Before she knew it they were in a dim alleyway next to the school, Adrien was in front of her blocking her view of the street. "Uuhhhh!" Marinette mumbled. She could see the tension in his back as he was looking towards the street. It was as if he was making sure they weren't followed.

"Adrien, what is going on?" Marinette managed to say.

He turned to her, "I need to ask, uh-" He hesitated when he saw the look of confusion on her face. He looked around and seemed to realize the situation he had put her in, then stepped back to put some distance between them. "Ah! I-I'm sorry Marinette." he apologized rubbing the back of his head in a familiar gesture.

As awkward as he made her feel, the strange urgency of this situation combined with her protectiveness of Adrien made Marinette's Ladybug side on high alert. She looked at him thoughtfully, she knew Adrien and she knew something was off about him today. Her voice evened out, sounding more like Ladybug as she spoke. "Adrien, I can -uh see something is bothering you today. Let's get to the principal's office before we get into any more trouble. We can talk about it later though, okay?"

He seemed a little stunned for a second, but broke into an odd, lost but happy expression that made her feel dizzy. It was then she noticed that her right hand was still in his left. "Okay." He said happily, "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

He lead her into the light and let go of her hand as they climbed the stairs to the entrance. When they got to the principal's office at last he seemed rather busy and didn't notice their late arrival. He dismissed them quickly, simply telling them to pay attention or he'll have them sit in different places.

"I think we got lucky." Marinette whispered to Adrien and the headed out. He almost seemed excited as he replied, "Well, luck is your speciality." She just rolled her eyes, assuming it was a dig at her infamous clumsiness.

As they moved down the walkways a scream pierced their ears. Instead of causing their hero instincts to kick in they both sighed and prepared for drama. As they neared the classroom they heard Alya shout "You are so full of yourself!"

Adrien and Marinette hurried into the classroom and saw a seething Chloe standing at Marinette's desk with Sabrina close behind. "You are all in serious trouble if you don't stop interrupting my class!" Ms. Mendeleiev warned over the commotion as the two entered.

Alya was standing fiercely while Nino was holding her shoulders and saying "Calm down Alya, you'll only make it worse."

"What's going on?" Adrien and Marinette said in unison. They looked at each other for a moment to assert that that just happened.

"Ugh, Adrien tell them you want to sit near me." Chloe said in a sickly sweet voice. "I am tired of putting up with this, this brat!" she added, glowering at Marinette.

"Chlo, we've been over this. That is Marinette's seat." Adrien said patiently. Chloe became red in the face and stamped her foot.

"UN-be-lievable!" She turned her attention to the teacher, "Miss, they interrupted the class earlier right? So, uh, they obviously shouldn't be sitting near each other. I should take her seat." Chloe announced confidently.

"I am tired of this! you are the one interrupting my class. Now shut your mouth and go to the principal." Ms. Mendeleiev retorted, clearly sick of Chloe.

Chloe sputtered for a second before the teacher barked, "Now!"

Chloe was shocked but quickly strode out of the classroom with a humph.

"She isn't entirely wrong though…" the teacher added, turning her attention back to Adrien and Marinette.

Adrien replied smoothly, "Oh don't worry about us, Marinette just noticed that there was something in my hair and was trying to tell me, that's all. It won't be a problem from now on."

The teacher considered him for a moment before relenting tiredly, "Hm, okay. But you two are on thin ice for today alright?"

They both gladly accepted her verdict and sat in their spots again. The rest of class was spent silently paying attention. Chloe returned after a short while, looking proud, and said nothing.

During lunch break, Adrien was in the locker room with a few other students filtering out to eat. Nino stopped next to Adrien on the way out, "I'm going now, are you sure you don't want to join me for lunch?" He asked.

Adrien smiled gratefully at his friend, "Sorry Nino, I would but you know my dad wants me home at lunchtime."

"Yeah, that sucks. Oh well maybe someday right? See you later man," Nino patted him on the shoulder as he walked out, leaving him alone. Adrien turned his attention back to his open locker, his bag wiggled and he grabbed it so it wouldn't fall as Plagg floated out.

"Jeez, you made a big mistake last night." Plagg grumbled, rubbing his eyes after his nap. Adrien sighed despairingly and replied, "Will you stop bothering me about that? It's too late for regrets now anyways."

He thought for a moment before smiling dreamily and sighing again. "I was probably going to find out eventually. I mean, she's right there." He moved towards the door and looked down into the courtyard where he saw Alya and Marinette just as they walked out the front door. He sighed again causing Plagg to make a gagging noise, "Ugh, humans." He muttered.

"You knew it was Marinette right? I mean you saw her when we took off our miraculous that one time." Adrien asked as he walked back to his locker.

"Of course I knew. I am a magical all-knowing Kwami." Plagg boasted from inside Adrien's bag. "Than what should I do now that I know?" Adrien asked Plagg. The Kwami emerged with a wedge of camembert the size of his head, he considered it for a moment before throwing it into the air and eating it in one gulp.

Plagg replied through a mouthful of cheese, "I dunno. You're the smarty pants model. Work your magic on her."

A tone rang out from Adrien's phone, saving him from retorting. After he dug it out of his bag he read a text from his bodyguard telling him to hurry along. He sighed once more and packed up his things, letting Plagg slip under his shirt to hide from sight before heading out for lunch.

When the final class for the day had ended Marinette nervously began packing her things and Alya began bombarding her with questions. "Later Alya." Marinette dismissed, she wasn't even sure what was going on. She saw Nino and Adrien leave the class so her and Alya went out after them. They descended the stairs to the main courtyard when she noticed something up in front of the principal's office.

Marinette stopped suddenly, causing Alya to walk into her. "Huh?" Alya was about to ask what was up, but she too noticed the scene upstairs.

Ms. Mendeleiev was speaking with the principal, she looked desperate and emotional. But the principal, sweaty as he seemed, stood firm on whatever he had said. She then walked quickly to the teachers' lounge looking tense and distraught.

 **Ahhh, such strong negative emotions.**

 _Hey everyone! I am glad you like the story. There might be a bit more delay between the next chapters because, as you may or may not have guessed, I am going to have to write some action scenes. Hope you like it!_ =^._.^=


	4. Chapter 4

"What happened?" Adrien suddenly asked.

Marinette looked down and saw him slightly lower on the staircase. He was facing her as if he had come up to meet her on the stairs. She sighed and said, "I have a feeling that whatever it was had to do with-"

"Ha! Serves her right!" Chloe boasted loudly.

"-Chloe…" Marinette finished sadly.

Adrien turned and moved towards Chloe, the rest of them following suit. "What did you do this time Chloe?" He demanded. She leaned on his shoulder and whined in her fake sweet voice, "You're not mad at me, are you Adrikins?"

He shrugged her off and stepped back before he asked again, "That depends, what did you do Chloe?"

She looked around at her assembled classmates, a brief look of surprise crossed her face. "Uh, don't look at me like I'm the bad guy." She chastised. "All I did was get her teaching licence suspended," She put her hand on her forehead dramatically, "for abusing a student."

All her classmates around her gaped as she stood with her arms crossed proudly. Marinette gasped in horror, finally understanding what she had seen.

"Oh no! Ms. Mendeleiev!" Marinette cried. Adrien gave her a determined look that she didn't quite understand before they turned to ascended the stairs once again. Alya and Nino followed them up towards the entrance to the teachers' lounge. They heard a bang as they arrived at the door.

Marinette knocked hesitantly, and she asked "Ms. Mendeleiev? Are you in there? We wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, Come on. We don't want her to be akumatized." Alya said, moving forward and grabbing the doorknob. "Hold on Alya," Nino said as he moved to grab her wrist. "That the teachers' room, we can't just go in there."

 **Inside the teachers' lounge.**

Ms. Mendeleiev sat at the table with her head propped up on her elbow. She sighed bitterly and took off her glasses to rub her eyes in frustration. "That girl seriously needs to learn some respect," she said to herself sadly.

Movement in the corner of her eye made her turn her head, an enchanting black and purple butterfly fell through the open window like tissue paper and flitted over to her. She watched it approach, standing quickly and knocking the chair over in alarm as it landed on the arm of her glasses. The butterfly disappeared and a dark purple energy consumed the spectacles, making them a solid deep purple

Her emotions suddenly overwhelmed her. She glanced up as an ethereal voice began to echo in her mind, the outline of a butterfly floating over her face and emitting a dull purple light over her features.

"Preceptor, I am Hawkmoth. Some students just do whatever they want, so disrespectful. But you always know what's best. I will grant you the ability to make sure your students behave, and all I want in return are Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous."

"Alright, but we play by my rules." She replied with a smirk.

With that she replaced her glasses, a deep purple energy began fed off of them and consume her body.

Alya sighed and smacked his hand away, "Don't you think this is a little more important? Chloe just ruined this woman's career," She argued. "Besides, those two have already gotten in trouble today. How bad could it be?" She added with a smirk.

Before they could stop her she pulled the door open and they all froze. They had arrived just in time to see a figure of cloudy magic energy standing near the table. The magic flowed away, revealing what used to be their teacher.

She was in a dark blue full body villain jumpsuit with yellow eye symbols on her shoulders, elbows, knees and heels, and a large eye design on her forehead. Her hair was a bright cyan and came out in a tall spiked exaggerated version of her usual hairstyle. She tilted her head down to look at them over her bright yellow cat eye sunglasses.

"Ms. Mendeleiev?" Marinette asked hesitantly.

The villain scoffed at them, and without another word she leapt into the air and right over their heads. They rushed to the railing and watched her land in the courtyard, taking all the remaining students by surprise.

Several students gasped in alarm. By now many of them had come to recognise when an acuma was on the attack and several of them started to evacuate.

Before anything else happened Marinette decided to find somewhere she could transform. "Ugh, Chloe. Why is it always Chloe?' She wondered aloud. Adrien saw her run off and, smiling to himself ran off into the nearest empty classroom.

She rushed down the hall to the girls' washroom, entering and locking herself in a stall far from the entrance. Tikki flew out of her bag as soon as she opened it giving her an encouraging smile. "Aw give her a chance, you know she isn't as bad as she used to be," Tikki giggled. Marinette shook her head and replied, "Regardless, we still have to clean up her mess. Tikki, spots on!"

Meanwhile, Alya had her phone out and recording. Nino stood close to his girlfriend, watching her phone. "Nice, what do you think her name is gonna be?" He asked enthusiastically. "Quiet, I wanna put this on my blog, "She shushed him.

"Chloe," The teacher was saying, "You and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Um, I don't think so. My time is too valuable for me to be kidnapped again," She retorted. Chloe grabbed Sabrina's arm and manoeuvred her in between the teacher and herself.

But Sabrina abruptly turned around, her eyes glowing an unnatural indigo blue. "Chloe! That's rude, don't use me as a body shield!" she chastised. The blonde in question was greatly taken aback by Sabrina sticking up for herself.

"Whaa?" Chloe responded, dumbfounded. "You need to learn some respect and humility Chloe Bourgeois," Her teacher said. "I am Preceptor, and I am finally going to make you listen and shut up. All of you!"

With that, she began turning around as the eye on her forehead began to glow. Every student and bystander that was left in her field of vision relaxed as their eyes lit up in a deep blue. Everyone else finally took the initiative and began running out of the building.

Chloe, who was standing behind Sabrina, began to run as well. She dashed towards the front doors but felt someone pulling her. Attempting to throw them off without looking she swung her bag around as a weapon. However, the force of the person pulling her caused her to fall back before she could land a hit.

She glanced up to where Sabrina and Kim were standing over her, "Come on Chloe, the teacher wants to see you." Kim said to her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ugh, let go Kim!" She shrieked. He had grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her towards the teacher. He put her down gently, "Sorry Chloe, teachers order," he shrugged.

"Chloe," Preceptor said harshly. Chloe faced her teacher fiercely, "Your costume must have been designed by a toddler, even Marinette could make a better one," She scoffed.

Preceptor gritted her teeth, "You have been a pain in our sides for too long. We shouldn't have to fear for our jobs whenever we stand up for your peers." She raised her hand and held the frame of her glasses, the pupil on her forehead lighting up.

"Nope!" Ladybug shouted abruptly, she swung in from the right with her yo-yo and grabbed Chloe around the waist. Carrying her over to the upper hallway on the opposite side of the building.

After she placed Chloe on the floor she stood on the railing and turned to look at her teacher, "ms. Mendeleiev, stop this!"

"Ladybug!" The teacher growled. "Get Chloe, i'll deal with her," she commanded to her students. Two dozen people with glowing blue eyes began rushing up the stairs towards Chloe.

Ladybug wanted to grab Chloe and run, but she couldn't help but consider that she was right. Chloe has always been a huge source of problems, I mean it _was_ her teacher after all. didn't want her helping Chloe escape so why should she? Ladybug stood on the railing, not moving. Even when Chloe screamed at her for help and began running away.

"Now come here young lady." Preceptor said sternly, the eye on her forehead fading back from blue. Ladybug nodded silently and hopped off the railing, somersaulting upon her landing and stopping in front of her teacher.

She stood up and smiled, "Yes?"

"When your friend shows up I need you to get me his miraculous." She commanded. Ladybug nodded in confirmation but hesitated. _Getting his miraculous? Cat Noir's miraculous?_ That isn't something her teacher would normally ask for. But, she felt compelled to oblige.

"Hate to interrupt," Cat Noir interrupted, "but when I give m'lady a ring it won't be this one." He wiggled the ring finger on his right hand at her. He was carrying Chloe and was perched on his staff, the controlled students swarming beneath him just out of reach. "Ugh," Chloe responded.

The teacher looked annoyed but smirked, "Now now young man." Ladybug swiveled around her eyes glowing blue, "Hey Kitty, can you come here a sec?" She said.

"Sorry Bugaboo," Cat Noir said before he extend his weapon to carry Chloe and himself onto the roof.

"Get them!" Preceptor commanded her students. He let go of Chloe when they reached the roof and Ladybug was right behind them. He turned around just as she threw her yo-yo at him from close range.

He swung his staff and hit the yo-yo away, she caught it naturally and moved towards him. "Sorry Cat Noir, but I need your miraculous. It's important." She told him.

"Listen to yourself Ladybug, this isn't right." He begged her. She responded by throwing her yo-yo at him again.

They became locked it a dual, Cat Noir kept batting her yo-yo away with his staff. She started becoming reckless, throwing her yo-yo faster, and backing him towards the edge of the building. He continued just blocking her attacks, but faltered when is heel went over the edge. The gave her a clear chance to grapple his staff and tear it from his grip.

She caught it in her free hand and aimed it at him threateningly, "Was that so hard?" She asked humorlessly.

Cat Noir didn't respond. He made an odd expression of surprise before smiling playfully and saying, "Guess we're just not seeing eye-to-eye today."

He winked then ran at her. At that moment Chloe grabbed Ladybug from behind, surprising her and allowing Cat Noir to grab his staff and run past her, "thanks." He said to Chloe.

Ladybug fought off Chloe and turned to face them when she let go, "Ladybug please come to your senses, don't let Hawkmoth win!" Cat Noir urged her.

 _Hawkmoth? What does he have to do with this? I was just doing an errand for my teacher… But why take Cat Noir miraculous again? There's is something odd about this…_ Ladybug dropped her yo-yo, her face contorted into a confused expression. Cat Noir approached her with his arms extended towards her, "It me Bugaboo, remember?" He asked.

He placed his hands gently on her shoulders, she didn't move.

He thought for a moment before demanding, "Whose side are you on?" She was startled by his sudden intensity, the unnatural radiant blue over her eyes flickered. She opened her mouth to respond but he cut her off. "Whose side are you on?" He demanded again.

Her eyebrows furrowed in frustration she mumbled, "Uh- I- My teacher-".

"Please, I can't stop Preceptor without you." He said simply. She looked up at him for a moment, she was confused but the strain on her face betrayed her fight with the acuma's effects.

The radiant blue faded to her natural eye colour and Cat Noir relaxed, a huge relieved smile on his face. She was dazed for a moment, rubbing her temple as if she had a headache. She looked to the right where Cat Noir's hand was on her shoulder and then raised an eyebrow at him.

He smiled sheepishly, stepping back and removing his hands from her shoulders. "Thanks Cat Noir," Ladybug said gratefully, "I can't believe how quickly she got the upper hand."

"Yeah, good thing I _happened_ to be nearby. Who knows what kind of trouble you get into when I'm not around?" Cat Noir responded.

Ladybug rolled her eyes at him and tried to remember what happened when she became under the influence of her teacher. She remembered the glowing eye on Preceptor's forehead. "Um hello? Why are we just standing around when there's a super villain out to get me? Do I have to do everything?" Chloe interrupted her thoughts.

"Right," Ladybug said, "we need to be really careful. If both of us get caught like that…"

"That would be really bad." Cat Noir finished for her. Chloe gasped and stepped next to Cat Noir.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice said. Preceptor was standing nearby on the roof, they turned her attention to her quickly.

"Ladybug, you failed me. You children are all the same," she said remorsefully.

"Actually, m'lady is one of a kind," Cat Noir cut in. "Quiet!" Preceptor said, the eye on her forehead began to glow and Ladybug and Cat Noir quickly turned their heads away.

"Pathetic, is that really all you came up with? You two are some of my best students I expected more." Preceptor said with a smirk.

Ladybug glanced at her partner worriedly, hoping she was just messing with them. "That's right," their teacher continued, striding towards them. "I can see right through you."

"Please come your senses Ms. Mendeleiev." Ladybug tried. The teacher tsk'd and said, "Insolent girl, you should address as Preceptor. Now Chloe, would you be a dear?"

Chloe then came up behind Ladybug and grabbed her arms with an unnatural strength, turning her and forcing her to face the teacher. Cat Noir felt all the muscles in his body tense, reactivity he said "uh- Hey! Leave her alone!"

He extended his staff towards the villain, sweeping it up towards her head. When it made contact it hit her open palm and she took a firm hold of his staff.

He looked to where his staff had hit and saw her smirking face briefly before a blinding blue light made his vision hazy.

"Cat Noir!" He heard Ladybug cry out. Stepping back from Preceptor, he glanced over at the heroine. "What's wrong?" He asked. She only looked on in horror, his eyes were bright blue.

"Boy, give me that ring." His teacher ordered. He shrugged and went to take off his miraculous. "No don't!" Ladybug yelled. That caused him to pause.

 _What's wrong? I need to do this_. He gripped his ring and glanced at her, she was clearly panicked and trying to fight off Chloe. _She obviously upset. Why am I doing it?_

"Give it to me!" Preceptor demanded. "No, fight it Cat Noir!" Ladybug interjected.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his palms into his forehead. Meanwhile, from the force of fighting with Ladybug Chloe's hand slipped, allowing Ladybug a window to grab Chloe's arm and throw her forwards. Much like she did to her during the Zombizou attack.

She then decided she need to use her ability, so she threw her yo-yo skyward and called out "lucky charm!"

 _sorry about the wait! I've never really written an action scene before so I wanted to make sure it was good. Reviews and feedback are always welcome. Also, has anyone else seen the trailer for Style Queen? It looks awesome! Looking forward to it._


	6. Chapter 6

A ball of pink energy formed above her head then warped into what looked like the shape of a yo-yo. A cool metal object dropped into her open hands and she saw it was a pocket watch on a chain. She held it fast and furrowed her eyebrows at the red and black metal watch, "what could this be for?" She wondered to herself.

Looking out at the scene before her she saw Chloe had been thrown down the incline and was sitting on the green lower part of the roof, Cat Noir looked confused and his eyes were still blue. Preceptor, who was in front of Cat Noir, lit up in a ladybug pattern. Ladybug was taken aback however when she noticed her teacher was hunched forward with her hands on her face. Ladybug stepped closer and heard Preceptor talking, "stop. No, I won't tell you." She was saying.

"Ladybug?" Cat Noir said. She looked over at him and saw that his eyes were green again. "Welcome back kitty, wait how did you do that?" She asked in amazement. He had to fight her and yell in her face to snap her out of it.

He just smirked and said, "you know I am always on your side m'lady. That's how _eye_ roll." He pointed to himself with his thumbs as he said that.

Having been distracted Ladybug was caught off guard when Preceptor lunged at Cat Noir. The force knocked them both over and sent them sliding down the roof onto the green area that covers the walkways. Upon landing, Preceptor sat up and swiftly grabbed Cat Noir's right wrist. She tried to pry off his ring but he decisively kicked out with both legs and sent her careening into the courtyard below.

Ladybug hopped down next to him and they both looked down to see where she was. The blue-eyed students below caught her and were all asking if she was okay. She steadied herself, and told them "I'm fine thank you, children."

A beeping sound alerted them to the first spot on Ladybug's miraculous flashing. "What did you get?" Cat Noir asked quickly. Ladybug held up the patterned pocket watch with a shrug, he glanced at it before suggesting "hypnosis?"

"It's really nice, I am sure it will work out," Chloe said in an uncharacteristically friendly way. They both looked over to their right where Chloe was still sitting, her eyes glowing blue. They decided to ignore her.

"We'll see." Ladybug said determinedly. The two heroes stood ready when Preceptor super-jumped and launched herself up to the rooftop. "The glasses!" Ladybug said to Cat Noir. He nodded to her in confirmation and they looked up at her with their hands up to block her head from their vision, but she wasn't even facing them.

"Ugh! Stop Hawkmoth! I won't tell you their identities! It was just a ruse to set them off!" She snapped. She shook her head rapidly then cried out in pain, pressing her hands to her temples.

 _Don't lie! I know what abilities I gave you, now obey and tell me their names!_

They both quickly jumped up to where Preceptor was on the rooftop and approached. Before she could react Cat Noir snatched her sunglasses but she caught his wrist before he could break them, starting a sort of tug-of-war.

Without thinking, Ladybug brought her fist down onto the glasses and knocked them out of everyone's grip. Cat Noir and Preceptor dove after them before they hit the ground, deflected off the corner of the roof and fell down in front of Chloe.

Chloe curiously picked up the glasses and looked at them with a blank smile. Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Preceptor slid and jumped down the roof towards her, Ladybug got there first and tried to snatch the glasses out of Chloe's hands but she wouldn't let them go. "Rude! I was looking at that." She chastised Ladybug.

"Chloe please, I need those." Ladybug pleaded.

"Chloe, give them to me," Preceptor commanded breathlessly, Chloe turned towards her teacher without complaint.

"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir yelled and a dark energy began pulsing around his right hand.

He lunged towards Chloe with his arm outstretched and reached for the glasses in her outstretched hand. Just as preceptor took hold of the end of her glasses Cat Noir's hand came down onto them and she felt their form give away.

All at once her powers were cut off from her, and preceptor fell to her knees. A moment later the black and purple butterfly flew out of the ashes left from the glasses. Ladybug pressed the top of her yo-yo to open and began spinning it, "no more evil doing for you little acuma." She deftly caught the acuma in mid-air and said, "time to de-evilize!" Spinning it and allowing her miraculous to work its magic.

She released the now white butterfly from her yo-yo and sent it off with a goodbye. A wave of dark energy flowed over her teacher and left her in her normal state.

Ladybug held out the pocket watch for a moment, the light reflecting off the metal made her squint. She just shrugged and called, "miraculous ladybug!" Then threw the watch into the sky. The magic in her miraculous freed all the students from their teachers affects, when it got to Chloe she immediately became uncomfortable.

"What the?" She said in confusion. Cat Noir helped Ms. Mendeleiev stand and Ladybug rejoined them. "Cat Noir? Oh great, what did I do?" The teacher asked him in disappointment. She folded her arms and glanced at Chloe, who was pouting.

"Oh, it is probably best that you don't remember." He replied, scratching his neck.

Ladybug approached him from the side and whispered, "you're gonna have to wrap this up. I've got to go." Her statement was punctuated by more beeps from her miraculous.

"No problem m'lady, see you." He smiled at her and sent her off with a salute.

He turned back to his teacher and his childhood friend when he heard Ladybug say "bug out!" He smiled to himself. Ms. Mendeleiev stepped towards him and thanked him, "no problem, let's get you off the roof so I can get out of here too." He replied.

He helped them both get down onto the walkway by catching them, he could tell the Chloe was pretty embarrassed about the situation. That made him confident that he didn't need to stick around.

"Cat Noir, can I have a minute?!" He heard Alya yell from across the room. He turned and simply waved at her before jumping up onto the roof and running off to detransform.


	7. Chapter 7

"That was weird" Marinette commented to Tikki. She stepped out of the alleyway and looked around in case there was anyone nearby.

"Yeah, it's not like Hawkmoth to sabotage his own villains like that," Tikki replied. Marinette turned to her kwami, "Sabotage?" she questioned.

"Yeah, it's because he distracted her that you guys were able to get the upper hand." she replied.

Marinette looked thoughtfully at her and said, "it was only a matter of time… Maybe that's what the pocket watch was for? Hmm, we should probably keep our guard up."

She gave her kwami a determined look witch earned her a giggle. Marinette opened up her bag to let Tikki hide, then hurried back into the school.

"Marinette!" She heard. Alya was waving and rushing towards her with Nino close behind.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I ran and hid. I almost couldn't tell when it was over," Marinette bluffed.

"Well we practically got front row seats!" Alya moved close to marinette with her ecstatic smile. She pulled out her phone and brought it close to Marinette's face. "I recorded the whole thing!"

"Ohh nice!" Marinette said enthusiastically, on the screen was a paused video with the image of Preceptor taken from the upper hallway at the beginning of the fight. Marinette frowned when she noticed the socked Chloe in front of the villain on screen.

"Have either of you seen Chloe?" Marinette asked.

Alya just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, she's right over there."

She pointed and they all looked upstairs where Adrien And Chloe were talking. She was pouting and red in the face. After a moment they both headed down the stairs and went their separate ways.

"Hey dude, everything alright?" Nino asked his friend when he joined them.

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry so much about it anymore. I think I convinced her to put things right." Adrien responded with a smile.

They all glanced towards Chloe and watched as she brought her cell phone to her ear and stepped out of the building. When she stepped out the door they noticed Adrien's bodyguard standing out front, so they all started walking out together towards the car.

"They made quick work of the villain today didn't they?" Alya asked. Marinette smiled to herself and hummed in agreement.

"Oh, Ladybug is so cool! I wish I could have seen her today!" Alya cried out with exaggerated sorrow. Marinette blinked rapidly in confusion.

"What do you mean? You said you recorded the fight." Marinette asked.

"I did, but I was totally brainwashed for the whole thing." She used her phone for a moment then stopped as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She held out her phone and played the video, the screen was just dark but you could vaguely hear Cat Noir's voice saying "...when I give m'lady a ring it won't be this one."

"I think I put it in my pocket when I got brainwashed, but it was still recording." Alya explained happily.

"At least you still got something." Marinette said reassuringly. Alya nodded put her phone away.

"So, who's your favourite hero?" Nino asked Adrien as they reached his car. "Mines Carapace, he's pretty awesome." He added with a sly smile.

"Definitely Ladybug, I love her." Adrien responded sincerely.

 _Huh!? What! no. what? He is just a fan right? A fan of a superhero? He meant it in a fan way right?_ Marinette became disconnected from the conversation as her mind flooded with thoughts. It seemed that he said it to confirm he was a fan but his tone of voice… it sounded more like a confession.

"Um earth to Marinette," Alya said breaking her out of her stupor.

"H-huh? Oh what?" She muttered in confusion.

Alya laughed at her but when Marinette turned to her best friend all the could see was Adrien standing behind her. He had that look, that sad-but-happy kind of look that made her want to cry and laugh. He just smiled at her and kept walking with Nino as Alya tried to get a response out of her.

"Hey Marinette!" he called out to her. He was standing near the car, his bodyguard holding the door open, "I'll text you tonight okay?"

Her smile threatened to split her face in half and she waved frantically, "ye-yeah t-t-tonight, yup!"

 _sorry it's a shorter one but It's better than nothing, Happy thanksgiving everyone! And to the those that don't do thanksgiving, happy Monday!_


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm home!" Marinette called out. She stepped into the bakery and the familiar scent of freshly baked bread met her at the door. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, glad to finally be out of the sunlight. Her father waved an oven-gloved and at her.

"How was your day sweetie?" He asked. Marinette paused, considering how much to tell him.

"It was pretty uneventful until Chloe got another teacher akumatized." She said bitterly. Her father looked confused for a moment before he became startled.

"What? I didn't hear anything about an akuma today!" He said. He stepped back from the counter and pulled his gloves off. She stepped back into the bakery and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry, nobody got hurt. Ladybug and Cat Noir took care of it pretty quickly." She explained. Her father visibly relaxed and stepped forward with his arms out, she gladly accepted his embrace and extended her arms around her dad's chest.

"I am just glad you're okay. We are so lucky to have them, sometimes I can't help but worry what state this city would be in without them." He said to her.

"Well, I think I am going to have a nap. It's been a long couple days." Marinette said after they pulled apart. Her father nodded and turned his attention back to his baking. Marinette continued to the stairs and up to her room where she collapsed onto her bed.

Tikki pushed against Marinette through her purse to get her attention until her owner sat upright and opened the bag.

"Uh, sorry Tikki. I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something…" she said. She fell back into her pillows again and sighed in relief. Tikki smiled at her and curled up next to her head, they both closed their eyes and drifted off for some much-needed rest.

Adrien threw his fencing bag down at the base of his bed and collapsed face first into his pillows. He had been swamped with after school lessons all evening and was ready to go into a coma. The sharp and pungent smell of Plagg's favourite cheese caused him to groan but he didn't have it in him to complain about it.

Sensing his owner's discomfort Plagg quipped, "Hey, I was fighting too you know. I deserve a break now and then." The little kwami let out a huge yawn before floating down and settling onto Adriens back with the cheese in hand.

"What time is it?" Adrien mumbled through the pillows. Plagg took a delicate bite of his cheese and glanced at Adrien's bag on the floor where his cell should be.

"Eh, I dunno. Past sunset?" He suggested. He got no response, and from the way Adrien's breathing had evened out Plagg guessed that he had fallen asleep. The kwami shrugged and took a huge bite of the cheese. As soon as he finished it he stretched out and made himself comfortable.

"Good night Adrien." He said before falling asleep himself.

Marinette's eyes drifted open, the sun was coming into her windows and she stretched out her arms with a yawn. Tikki made a cute noise and burrowed deeper into the pillow so Marinette sat up carefully and looked over her room. She suddenly realized she was still in her clothes from school and grabbed for her cell phone in a blind panic. She scrambled blindly under her pillows, finally digging out her phone and reading the time, 5:06 am.

"Oh," she said quietly. She rubbed her forehead and sat up stiffly.

"Marinette, are you okay?" she heard Tikki ask from the pillows.

Marinette shifted over carefully and picked up the sleepy kwami. "Sorry Tikki, was worried I overslept." She explained.

Tikki rubbed her eyes and sat up, "What time is it?"

"Pretty early, we slept through the night," Marinette replied. Her kwami rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Oh, well I am just glad you're not late for school," Tikki said happily. Marinette's stomach rumbled loudly and she added, "That also means we skipped dinner."

"Let's go have a big breakfast then!" Tikki giggled, floating out of Marinette's hands.

"Good idea."

Marinette arrived at the school with time to spare, she was happy she could rest but she had a nagging feeling that she was missing something. She had double and triple checked her bags on the way to school and even asked her parents if she missed something last night, besides dinner that is. But they couldn't tell her what was bothering her,

When she saw Adrien's driver pull up a few minutes after arriving it suddenly hit her. Adrien! He was gonna message her last night and she totally forgot! He is gonna hate her for sure.

She could see Adrien walking and he was just about to pass her, she tried to get his attention and he stopped, looking at her scornfully he said, "I'm sorry, did you want something? Well, you should have thought about that before you ignored me last night. Really I am too rich and handsome to be bothered with someone like you anyways. You had one chance and you blew it, have a nice life bakers girl!"

Marinette shrieked and clapped her hands over her mouth.

"I know right! Wait, are you even listening to me?" Alya asked her. Marinette blinked rapidly and looked down at road where Adrien was stepping out of his car.

"Oh, sorry Alya. I was- somewhere else," she said sadly. Alya rolled her eyes and looped an arm through Marinette's. She steered her friend towards the locker room and to her locker.

"Seriously though, what happened last night? You and Adrien get up to anything?" she asked suggestively. Marinette frowned and put her bag into her locker, then she looked up at her friend embarrassed.

"I totally forgot and passed out as soon as I got home." she whimpered. Alya laughed openly at her friend's constant antics.

"Oh, you poor girl! How is it that you keep missing out on these golden opportunities?" She asked through her laughter. Marinette pouted at her friend and pulled out her phone. Her expression went blank when she saw no notifications from Adrien. Alya leaned over Marinette's shoulder to watch her phone screen.

"Nothing," Marinette said. She opened her messages and confirmed that he had not messaged her at all. She was conflicted with relief and disappointment. Maybe he really didn't care? A cold heartache settled in her chest and she put her phone back in her bag.

"At least I didn't miss anything," she said sadly.

"Oh come on, you know better than anyone what a crazy life he has. He was probably just busy last night." Alya reassured her. Marinette just frowned and gathered the books she needed for her first classes.

"Yeah, I am sure your right. Besides I don't think Adrien could be so mean." Marinette added. They both started going towards the door when Alya said:

"Or you could just ask him." Adrien was waiting outside the locker room when he saw them approach her turned to them and said hello. Marinette noticed immediately that he looked exhausted and all her hurt flew out the window.

"Adrien! Are you feeling okay?" she asked quickly. He waved a hand dismissively and replied.

"I am fine M'l-arinette!" his eyes widened in panic and he cleared his throat before trying again.

" I am sorry about last night. I meant to message you but I got a little side-tracked after school. I hope you can forgive me." He finished, rubbing the back of his head anxiously.

"What, oh don't worry about that! I mean I didn't even notice. Were you supposed to text me last night? I had no idea! I mean… umm.." Marinette stammered. She realized that sounded bad and opened her mouth to correct herself.

"She was really worried about it, but we're glad it was just a misunderstanding." Alya interrupted. Marinette was glad her friend pitched in before she continued to dig her own grave but admitting she was worried made her feel light headed. She smiled awkwardly with her teeth and kept quiet.

"Definitely, I'll text you tonight but in the meantime maybe we could hang out? Like in between classes?" Adrien suggested hopefully.

"Uh, yeah that sounds great," Marinette said happily.

"Count me out, I am cramming until the last second," Alya said quickly.

"Cramming for what?" Marinette asked suspiciously. Her heart started to race and she had a terrible feeling that she knew the answer to that question.

"Oh no, Marinette! For the chemistry test today? Second period?" Alya answered. Marinette started blankly. A test! Today! She had completely forgotten.

 _Edit Note: I originally had Marinette fall out of her bed when she was looking for her phone, but after watching the most recent episode "Catalyst" I realized that her bed is, in fact, up in a loft. So if she did fall out of her bed she would have broken her neck._


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette bit her fingernails nervously. The science room was buzzing with anxious murmuring from her classmates. The entire class was on edge for this chemistry test, but Marinette was already full of despair.

"Freaking out now won't help," Alya said matter-of-factly. Marinette just slumped forwards and pressed her forehead into the cold desk. Alya and Nino tried to help her before class started, but it was too little too late. She felt Alya patting her shoulder comfortingly and she let out a stressed sigh. When she heard the stool in front of her move she looked up as Adrien spun to face her.

"Don't worry Marinette, I am sure-" he pauses mid-sentence and yawns, he continues spinning as he lifts his hand to cover his mouth. "-sure, that you will be okay." he finished through the yawn. She watched helplessly as he rubbed his watering eyes and turned back around to face her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Marinette asked empathetically. He just smiled at her kindly, Ms. Mendeleiev entered the classroom and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I know yesterday saw some… miscommunication that lead to an unfortunate akuma accident. But I would like to assure everyone that all issues from the incident have been taken care of or otherwise set aside. For now, I want you all to focus on the task at hand. You have all been aware of this test for several weeks now and I expect you all to meet my expectations. You can start as soon as you get one."

After her assertive introduction, the teacher handed small stacks of papers to each of the students in the front row seats. Adrien took a test and turned to give Marinette the rest of his stack. When she grabbed them she felt a resistance and looked up to meet Adrien's eyes.

"Good luck." he mouthed. With that, he released the papers into her custody and turned back to his desk. After passing on the last two tests back to Ivan she looked down at her own like it was going to bite her. _Here we go._

Later, Ms. Mendeleiv made a quick announcement, "If you are finished with your test, feel free to leave for lunch early. Please leave quietly." Alya and several other classmates began packing up their things silently, so Marinette decided to finish up too.

She went up with Alya to hand in her test on the way out. When she got to the teacher's desk she quickly dropped her trainwreck of a test onto the pile and speed-walked out the door. In the hallway, Marinette finally released a pent-up groan.

"That was terrible!" She vented. Alya looked sympathetically at her friend but couldn't help laughing at her exaggerated reaction.

"Look on the bright side, maybe you'll get to retake the test with Adrien." She suggested. Marinette just became confused and looked to Alya to clarify.

"What do you mean?" She asked, Alya just looked surprised.

"He was asleep for most of it, I think he'll be lucky if he did better than you." She explained, "I am surprised you of all people didn't notice." Marinette took a moment to think, she was so focused on the test she wasn't boring a hole into the back of Adrien's head like she usually was. The doorway to the classroom opened again and Adrien came out looking groggy.

"Have a nice nap sleeping beauty?" Nino was asking him. The four of them joined up and she walked next to him quietly down the hallway. She wanted to ask how he was, or say something. But she felt like a broken record asking him if he was okay all the time. He stretched and covered his mouth for a yawn, prompting Marinette to finally ask:

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Adrien smiled gently and shrugged.

"Yeah, you know what it's like leading a double life- I mean, as a student and a spy, I mean model!" He facepalmed himself as he failed to make his point clear. Marinette just smiled awkwardly at him, no doubt assuming it was just his tired brain fumbling his words. That she can relate to. They stepped into the courtyard and went towards the door locker room.

"Well, maybe you could take a nap during lunch?" Marinette suggested positively.

Adrien smirked at a secret opportunity. Turning to her, he commented, "A cat-nap? That sounds _purr_ -fect." Marinette's Ladybug side took over and she just rolled her eyes at the puns.

 _A swing and a miss Agreste._ He thought to himself but seeing that oh so familiar reaction made his heartbeat pick up the pace. He sensed a shadow enter his field of vision and felt himself come to a forced stop against something large.

"Huh?" Ivan turned around to see what had happened and saw Adrien standing behind him looking confused. "Adrien?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry Ivan. I was... distracted." Adrien said sheepishly, taking a few steps back from his classmate. He could hear giggling and saw Mylene next to Ivan.

"You'd have to be really distracted to miss him," she said teasingly. Ivan blushed and smiled fondly at his girlfriend. Marinette waited nearby while Adrien excused himself and joined her in the locker room.

At the end of the school day, Adrien waited for Marinette as she packed her stuff. She tried not to stare at him but seeing Adrien, The Adrien, waiting for her; She barely caught herself when she tripped and poured the contents of her bag onto the stairs. Adrien rushed up from the doorway to help her pick up her things.

"Ugh, sorry. I klutz, I mean I am a klutz," Marinette tried to explain, her mood turning sour with embarrassment. He just shared his signature smile with her and assured her it was okay.

"I should be busy with Chinese lessons until around 5 tonight. But I will be free after that until about 6:30. Do you maybe want to hang out for a bit?" he asked her eagerly. Marinette's jaw dropped as she tried to register this, Adrien adamantly trying to hang out with her? Waiting for her? Walking with her in the halls?

She looked at him in shock, but then she noticed the tiredness still in his eyes. As much as her conflicting emotions tried to wrestle her down, she knew what she needed to do.

"Um, sorry Adrien. I-I really would love to, but… I mean… You schedule is already packed. I just think you would benefit from a little time to yourself, you know?" she explained. She could feel the urge to correct herself and pressed it down. She didn't want him to think she was avoiding him.

He seemed to deflate a little at her response, but the soft smile still on his face caused a pang in her chest.

"No, you're right Marinette. You're so considerate. Maybe I'll have some more time on the weekend and we can hang out then?" he suggested. She lit up again and nodded in response.

"Definitely!" she said enthusiastically. They parted ways, as Adrien needed to hurry to get his ride. He left Marinette alone in the classroom. Her whole body shook from the encounter and she sat down in the nearest seat, which happened to be Adrien's spot.

"Woah!" she heard a voice from the doorway. Alya walked in and sat in Nino's spot next to her friend.

"You know, you will probably become a saint when you die but in the meantime… What happened? Adrien asked you out! You need to fill me in on what exactly happened yesterday." Marinette sighed but smiled at her best friend.

She wanted to fill her in on the mysterious behavioural changes of her beloved Adrien, but before she could even sort her words out she noticed movement near the doorway. No doubt that ginger hair belonged to a spying Sabrina.

"Maybe we could talk somewhere else? Like my place?" she suggested instead. She tilted her head towards the doorway while looking at Alya and she got the picture pretty quickly. They left the classroom together and sure enough, Sabrina was walking away from the classroom. She looked back at them over her shoulder went down the stairs.

"Chloe is probably going to become an obstacle. I mean, Adrien coming on to you? That's like her nightmare." Alya whispered. Marinette wanted to laugh at the ridiculous situation, but the very real possibility of Chloe meddling with her, and with Adrien: it made her heart sink with dread.

"Hopefully she will listen to Adrien. If it his decision she'll have to cool down,"


	10. Chapter 10

Alya and Marinette entered the bakery in a fit of giggles, Marinette was red in the face and trying not to laugh while Alya was snickering away openly.

"Adrien would never do that! I am sure he had a good reason for dragging me into the ally." Marinette retorted. She had wanted to save the story until they got to her room but she couldn't help wanting to tell Alya about what happened. The story about Adrien grabbing her arm and pulling her beside the school opened a window for Alya to poke fun about what might have happened.

"Well whatever happened, congratulations. I have always known you two were perfect for each other." her best friend commented as the two started towards the stairs. She just sighed and gave her friend a small smile. All these Adrien encounters, and the test on top of the recent back-to-back acuma attacks, they had left her feeling drained.

"Marinette," they heard Marinette's mother calling. "Can you come here for a minute please?" Marinette quickly changed course to the bakery. To Alya, Sabine sounded as nice as always but Marinette could hear an undertone that she had become accustomed to. The kind that sends dread pooling in your stomach. She entered the room cautiously with Alya close at her side.

"Hey guys!" Alya greeted them casually. Marinette flinched and watched her mom. She smiled sweetly at Alya and replied.

"Oh, good evening Alya. I am sorry but tonight isn't a good night, Marinette will be busy. Tom can give you a ride home if you like." Marinette's heart sank. Would the teacher have marked her test already? Would she have called her parents as soon as school ended? It's like she could smell a failed test the second Marinette handed hers in.

Lost in her thoughts, Marinette came to attention when her dad patted her shoulder before following Alya to the door. Before she knew it she was alone in the bakery with her mother. Sabine deflated slightly and walked over to her daughter.

"We got a call from the school today." she started. She stood close to her daughter and waited for a response. Marinette just looked at the floor.

"Marinette you promised that this wouldn't be an issue anymore." Her mother said, her voice laced with disappointment.

"I'm sorry mom. I- I just… It's been a tough couple days and I… I haven't- I mean. I forgot to study." Marinette fumble through an excuse. She wasn't certain what she was in trouble for yet but she could tell that it was bad. Her mother just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"I wouldn't make such a big deal about it if it was just the test. But running out of the school after you got in trouble for disrupting class? Picking fights with other students? What exactly has been going on Marinette?" at this point her mother looked more worried than mad. Worried about what happened to her daughter.

At this point though, Marinette was simply dumbfounded. What happened? Then it hit her, Chloe must have done something. A scowl crossed her face at the thought of Chloe telling on her. Her mom sighed when she misinterpreted the scowl and Marinette fought to defend herself.

"What exactly did you hear? _I_ didn't pick any fights, and I _went_ to the principal's office after _I_ was distracted by _another_ student." She tried to give everything a simple explanation. Her mother looked confused and shook her head.

"Alright, how about I hear your side before I jump to any more conclusions."

Marinette explained to her mother how a student, unnamed for Adrien protection purposes, was distracting her in class and they both got in trouble. She told her mom that she had gone to the bathroom on the way to the principal's office and that he had not given them any punishments. Her mother seemed satisfied with the explanation, having dealt with the aftermath of Chloe induced accidents before.

"Whatever drama Chloe started happened while I was at the principal's office. If anyone it was Alya that picked a fight with her, but really she just wanted to stir up trouble on her own. That trouble resulting in another teacher being akumatized." Marinette said. Her mother probably wasn't going to take her word over the school's but she seemed satisfied with the explanation.

"An intervention from the mayor would explain why the principle was too panicked. Still, you can't go blaming your problems on Chloe. This issue with you running out on classes is not new. I'll call the school again but in the meantime, you are grounded until further notice." Her mother decided. Marinette freaked internally, grounded. Grounded when Adrien asked her out. Grounded on the one weekend that all of her wildest dreams were promising to come true.

"I- but… I had… I had plans this weekend though!" she protested. Her mother just shook her head sadly and ignored her plea.

"The principal said you could do a makeup test next week, so I suggest you use the extra time to study." Her mother suggested sadly. "We have had this issue before Marinette. If there is something going on… Something that's causing you to be distracted, then please tell us." she added.

Marinette sighed heavily and shrugged in response. Her mother gave her a brief hug before Marinette slugged up the stairs and into her bedroom.

 **Adrien!**

Active Now

 **I am** _ **so** _**sorry Adrien! I am grounded for messing up** **my test**

 **today we could definitely**

 **hang out another time though?**

* * *

 **M'Lady**

Active Now

 **Don't worry Marinette we can work** **out something.**

 **That suck though :( hope everything is okay…**

 ***sucks**

 ***I hope**

 **:(**

Seen 3:46 pm

Adrien grimaced at his phone. These texts were for Ladybug and this was all he could muster? He should be composing grammatically perfect sonnets for her and he can't even focus on proper words. He looks up from his phone when he heard a methodical knocking at his door.

"Adrien do you have a moment?" he heard Nathalie say from the other side. He put his phone down and stood up from his bed.

"Sure, come in," he responded. Nathalie entered swiftly, brandishing her usual clipboard.

"Your Chinese instructor will be here shortly, and the photoshoot for tonight was cancelled." she began explaining. Adrien perked up a little, maybe he could… no wait she was grounded. Nathalie pause for a dramatic second before speaking again.

"We received an unwelcome call from your school today," she said cryptically. He felt like a lightning bolt shot through him and he waited for what he knew was coming. Seeing his reaction, Nathalie knew she could cut to the chase.

"We have scheduled a rewrite for the test that you failed today, so make sure you're prepared for it on Monday. For now, it's been decided that you will be grounded until your father decides otherwise. Also, to be certain you're not going to be distracted by any of your friends you'll have your cell phone removed from you while home. That is all." She told him.

Perfect, just perfect. It's not that he didn't see this coming, he just didn't want to think about it. It seemed like the universe was conspiring against them. He handed his phone over to her without another complaint.

"Okay, thanks, Nathalie." He responded somberly. With that she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

 _What I was trying to go for was a scene where they were texting each other, the format kind of fell apart when I put it into a Fanfiction document. Make sure to tell me if that part is confusing and I will rework it!_


	11. Chapter 11

Adrien threw himself onto his bed, rubbing his face with both hands. _Maybe this is what I deserve for sneaking around behind Marinette's back_ he thought.

"That seemed excessive. You okay kid?" Plagg asked gently. The black kwami floated lazily up from his hiding place by the pillows. He drifted in front of Adrien and watched his owner sigh and throw his arms down onto the bed.

"Yeah, it's okay Plagg. I'm not as helpless as I used to be." Adrien replied. He looked at the ceiling quietly for a moment before Plagg floated into his field of vision.

"Can you do me a favor later?" Adrien asked.

Plagg groaned when he saw the look on Adrien's face, "Ugh, do we have to?"

Marinette was at her desk, surrounded by a mountain of textbooks and notebooks. She had been texting feverishly with Alya about what happened and what she needed to know for the test. But at one point both Alya and Marinette's parents said that she should put her phone to rest. They had called her down for dinner but the stress of everything caused her stomach to feel weak. Eventually, Tikki offered her a spare macaron wich she nibbled on for a while.

By the time the sun set Marinette had reached her limit and closed the books. After shuffling down the stairs towards the kitchen she flicked on the lights and stood motionless in the silent room. A cold loneliness crept up on her and caused tears to prickle in the corners of her eyes. She could hear her parents in the bakery downstairs, but after sitting in her room all afternoon she felt like they were a world away.

"Marinette?" she heard Tikki call softly. She quickly wiped her eyes but Tikki didn't miss a beat.

"You know your parents aren't mad. Even if they don't believe you about Chloe, they're just worried about you." she continued softly. The little kwami floated up close and hugged her owners cheek. Marinette smiled gratefully and placed both hands gently over her companion for a moment.

When she looked out at the kitchen again she noticed some dirty dishes and bakeware half full of lasagna sitting out on the counter. No doubt her parents were too busy with work to finish cleaning up and assumed she would. She felt a little guilty about skipping dinner, but hesitated when she stepped up to the counter.

"Hey Tikki, do you think we could go out for a bit?" Marinette asked hesitantly.

"Out? Don't you want to eat first?" she responded.

The heroine just shrugged. "Just for a minute. I could do with a little fresh air right now." Tikki nodded happily and flew up, looping around her owner in a quick display of playfulness.

Marinette grinned and flicked back the hair by her ear, then called out, "Tikki, spots on!" After her transformation had completed Ladybug ran up the stairs, through her room and out of the hatch in her ceiling. Once she got out into the chilly night air she inhaled deeply and took a moment to look out over the city.

Without considering her destination she leapt off the balcony and threw her yo-yo onto the roof of the building across the street. She used the momentum to throw herself into the sky, arching over another building and somersaulting onto the next. She continued moving across the city carelessly, pausing to wave when passerbys called out her name excitedly.

She didn't know where she was going until she stopped and looked up. The looming silhouette of the Eiffel Tower stood at the end of the street. An Iconic landmark known the world over, and one that she has had to fight in and around several times. Just as she decided to head to the tower, she heard the familiar scuffling of boots on the roof nearby.

"Well well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." a familiar voice drawled behind her. She felt a smile prick at the corner of her lips, but managed a serious frown when she turned towards Cat Noir.

'Well well, look what the cat dragged in." she retorted in a similar tone. She couldn't help a smile when he snorted a laugh at her reply. He dropped off the chimney he had perched on and sauntered towards her.

"Not exactly an original comeback." he teased. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I could say the same about you. So what are you doing out here at this hour?" she questioned. He shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Dunno, kind of had a rough day." he said. She was slightly taken aback by his honest answer but respond in kind.

"Yeah, me too." she said softly. He stepped next to her and they looked over at the Eiffel Tower together. After a moment of silence, Ladybug couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He kept glancing at her like he wanted to say something. Eventually he settled on;

"So… Come here often?" She breathed out a half-laugh and closed her eyes to block out the cringe. Of course any real-talk is out if the question, and the mood he seemed to be in left the air buzzing. Like there was something important she forgot about. After another moment he said;

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" With that she sighed and pressed her palm into her forehead.

"Alright that's enough of that." she said. Before he could respond she jumped the gap between buildings and ran across the roof. When she stopped at the edge Cat Noir was right behind her.

"Oh _paw_ lease, you know my puns are _claw_ some." he laughed. She fought a smile with minimal success. She groaned and hid her face when she saw him smiling like a maniac.

"Ok, you just stepped over the line. Puns are illegal now." she snapped, her voice laced with laughter. Cat Noir feigned pain and placed a hand over his heart.

"How could you do this to me? Even just seven days without puns makes one weak." he quipped. She snorted from the effort of holding it in and started laughing. The cold feeling in her heart was replaced with the cringe of Cat Noir's puns, and there was no better replacement.

They shared a look, and Cat Noir beamed at her. With their gloomy atmosphere far behind them they both looked back at the Eiffel Tower.

"Hey, want to have a race?" he suggested.

"Hmm, alright fine. But when I win you have to stop making puns." Ladybug agreed.

"Okay, deal. But if I win I get to call you Bugaboo again." He smirked.

They gave each other determined looks. Cat Noir outstretched his hand and they shook on it.

"Fine. To the Eiffel Tower?" She suggested. He nodded and they both took action poses by the corner of the roof and faced onward.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready!" She called. She threw her yo-yo as far as she could and pulled herself over the edge of the building. She heard his staff clink against the rooftop behind her. When she reached the highest point of her momentum she saw the open streets before her, stretching out directly towards the goal.

She whipped her yo-yo to her right and grappled a smokestack. She pulled against it hard and swung herself in a wide arch over the open streets. She could vaguely hear people saying _Look! It's_ _Ladybug and Cat Noir!_

She paid no attention to the onlookers and willed her yo-yo to retract when she felt herself reaching the end on the swing. When it hit her open palm she immediately threw it forward again.

This time she pulled herself straight down onto the rooftops and landed with a forward roll before she started running. She risked a glance over her left shoulder and registered Cat Noir on the roofs across the street. She was slightly ahead but they were essentially neck and neck.

She leapt over the gap between buildings when she noticed a bright streak in the corner of her left eye. She turned her head quickly to see Cat Noir's extended staff propped up on a light post with the bottom wedged under a parked car. He jumped on the top of it and used his staff to slingshot himself towards the end of the street.

"Cheat!" She yelled after him. She leapt over the edge of the building and grappled the bars of a fenced balcony. She pulled hard and let the yo-yo string extend further out until she was nearly touching the sidewalk as she sung close to the ground. A woman stepped back quickly when Ladybug came soaring past.

"Huh?!" The woman gasped. Ladybug tried to yell an apology but it got caught in the wind. As she reached the height of the swing she brought her knees up to her chest and used the momentum to carry her into a backflip. When she brought her head forward again she noticed Cat Noir sprawled out in the road directly in front of the Eiffel Tower.

As she reached the end of the block she felt herself falling faster, her head buzzing with adrenaline she threw her yo-yo as hard as she could to close the gap. It caught on the base of the Eiffel Tower and she couldn't help a smile of victory. But the string was too long, if she tried to swing she would get dragged on the pavement. So she started pulling it in.

She couldn't help a "See ya!" When she swung right past Cat Noir as he stood up. But her victory was cut short when she flew between the legs of the tower and shot out the other side. In panic she urged her yo-yo to come loose and she dropped onto the pavement in a tumble.

 _Authors note: I am going to chop out a good part of the race. It isn't really important in terms of the overall story and it is starting to get really long. But I might add the last part later as a bonus if anyone wants it. Thanks for reading everyone!_


	12. Chapter 12

"See ya!" A familiar voice called out above him. Cat Noir was sprawled out on the curb in front of the Eiffel Tower. When he looked up Ladybug was shooting past him. He got up stiffly and watched her fly underneath the tower, but her yo-yo string was too long and she was moving too fast.

As he watched his body became cold with panic. All he could see was Marinette releasing her yo-yo and rolling along the pavement at high speeds.

"Ladybug!" He cried involuntary. He was running before he could feel his legs underneath him. She sat up in a daze, holding her head and blinking rapidly. He almost tripped over his own feet when he made it to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a frenzy, standing over her and assessing her for any possible damage.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She muttered. If anything she looked embarrassed, but he held out his hand to help her up.

"Thanks." She said as he carefully hoisted her to her feet. He kept a hold of her hand for a moment, giving her the strange opportunity to feel his heart pounding through the fabric of his gloves. She pulled her hand away and he stepped back.

"Well, looks like I won." She announced unenthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, good job M'ladybug... Wait, that means no more puns! But… how will I fight if I can't make jokes?" he sounded genuinely put out by this. But his exasperated reaction made Ladybug giggle in disbelief.

"What? You can fight without making jokes." she scolded.

"Oh come on, you do it to. Can you imagine how hard it's gonna be not to make fun of villains with puns while I am kicking their butts?" he defended.

A couple of chimes made him jump a little. After a moment of confusion they both realized that the sounds had come from Ladybugs Miraculous. When she opened it both of their hearts dropped at what they saw.

On the screen was an akuma warning alert with a picture of Marinette. It read; 'Warning of possible akuma victim: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, last seen this evening in her home went missing after being grounded earlier today. Worried parents called the police to warn of a possible akuma, residents are advised to be on the lookout for this girl and to call this hotline if there are any akuma sightings.'

"Oh no." Was all she could muster. Of course her parents were worried, Marinette doesn't normally just run off into the night without a word. Cat Noir let out a harsh breath, thinking quickly.

How would he have reacted if he didn't know she was Marinette? If he thought that his classmate was in trouble?

"Uh! Wait, Marinette? Dupain-Cheng!? She's your friend right? That's terrible, we need to find her right away!" He cried dramatically. Ladybug snapped her yo-yo shut and gave him a worried glance.

"Uh yeah, that's right! Whatever happened I'm sure this is a misunderstanding." She responded in kind. Cat Noir nodded diligently, even though Ladybug looked upset and tense.

"Well, uh. If you know where she lives why don't you head there to- gather information! I'll, Um I'll stay here and look around." He announced. When she gave him a curt nod in agreemeng he tuened and started to run back the way he came, towards the street where he had left his staff.

Looking back briefly he whispered under his breath, "Good luck." as he ran off.

Though her hands were shaking, Ladybug made quick work of swinging and running back along the rooftops. She had paused briefly to watch Cat Noir retrieve his staff from the middle of the street. But she knew delaying this confrontation would only make it worse.

When she finally saw the dark rooftop of the bakery she began sorting through her possible strategies to fix this. She could climb into her room and claim she had fallen asleep on the roof. But she can probably assume that her parents had already checked for her there. She could go in the front door and say she had snuck past them. But that was just bound to get her into more trouble.

She landed on the railing and hopped down. All the ideas swirling in her head were starting yo get more and more extreme. Should she tell them she was hiding from them? Kidnapped by a villain? Hanging out with Cat Noir?

She sat heavily on her chair and snorted a laugh to herself. If he ever heard that was the reason Marinette was gone he'd get suspicious for sure. He may act like a goof but he knows what he's doing, most of the time.

She was so caught up in her brooding that it took her a minute to realize that the hatch to her room was opening. She bolted out of the chair and saw her mother's head rising from the doorway.

"Ladybug? Oh thank goodness you're here!" She said, relieved. Sabine climbed up and stepped eagerly towards the young heroine.

"Is there any news? Did you find our daughter?" She asked hopefully. Ladybug's mouth hung open and she failed to make a coherent sentence.

"Uh, yes! I have her, I mean not here obviously. I mean..." She stared wide eyed at her confused mother. She felt cold panic prickling on the back of her head and she swallowed hard, forcing a comforting smile on her face.

"Uh, Sorry. I mean, yes. Your daughter, Marinette right? Is fine! Um, you see, she left but she will be back soon. And she's okay!" She smiled awkwardly, hoping her mother will buy it and let her leave. After a moment her father's voice was heard from in Marinette's room.

"Is it Marinette?" He asked hopefully, Sabine didn't respond. Sabine spoke something softly, looking slightly confused, but Ladybug's heart was pounding so loud in her head she couldn't make out what her mother had said. Ladybug fought to look at her mother but couldn't make eye contact when she caught the intense look in her eyes.

"I think we should go inside, don't you?" Sabine asked seriously. She didn't understand where this was going, but she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, thank you mo- miss! I really should go get your daughter through." As she said this she started to turn away, but felt her mother's arm on her shoulder.

"Wait Marinette," Sabine said quietly. "It's you, isn't it?" The hand on her shoulder suddenly felt heavy.

 _Wait, Is this really happening?_

"What!?" She squeaked, eyes wide with panic.

"It is you, it's been you the whole time!" Her mother pulled her into a hug that she didn't return at first. When she did she clung to her with desperation.

"I- I'm sorry." She sniffed. She wasn't even sure how to react. She never imagined her parents finding out. Her mother stepped back and took her daughters shoulders.

"Let's go inside." She suggested gently. Ladybug nodded and allowed her mother to guide her into her bed room. Her father was waiting by her desk, they must have been in her room when she arrived and heard her on the railing.

"Oh it's Ladybug! I'm sure you can find Marinette!" Her father said jovially when she started climbing down the ladder into her room. Sabine and Ladybug stood quietly side by side.

"Yes, she said she already has." Her mother said carefully.

He mother gave her a meaningful look out of the corner of her eye. It seemed she was giving her the lead to decide whether or not to tell her father. The room became tense and silent for a couple of seconds that seemed to stretch out for hours while she fought to decide.

"Did- did something happen?" Tom asked cautiously. Ladybug fiddled with her yo-yo nervously.

"Um, no. It's just…" she started.

Her father squinted at her. "Hang on... I am just realizing how similar you two look. Have you met my daughter?" He said. She smiled at her dad, but this strange feeling of fear kept her on edge. Why were they suddenly able to see through her disguise?

"That's a difficult question to answer." She said shakily, "Tikki spots off."


	13. Chapter 13

_*_ _ **Minor disclaimer**_ _* Starting now the story will feature a simple headcanon about the magic surrounding the miraculous'. This was simply an Idea on my part and it's not canon._

* * *

Marinette's eyes flew open at the familiar sound of her alarm. She sat up slowly, leaned forward on her bed and sat squinting in the sunlight that was streaming in from the window above her.

When she finally grabbed at her phone and stopped the alarm she stretched lazily and glanced at the time.

"Oh no…" she groaned to herself. It was almost 11 am. She hauled herself out of her blankets and down the stairs into her room. Looking down at herself briefly she noticed that she was still in her clothes from the other day. She heard a small yawn as Tikki emerged from the bed and floated down to meet her.

"Good morning Marinette," she said sleepily.

"Good Morning Tikki," Marinette replied, seeming distracted. She began digging through her clothes for something fresh and the late-to-school panic finally started to set in. At that point she decided being more late wasn't worth trying to find better clothes, she wore the same stuff everyday anyways. Tikki followed Marinette out the door and down the stairs into the kitchen where Tom and Sabine were sitting and talking.

"Morning sweety, what's the rush?" Her mother asked. Before Marinette could answer her father came up and grabbed her in a bear hug.

"How is my little vigilante this morning?" he asked jovially. _Oh yeah._ She let him hug her until she needed to breath and he put her down.

"I am fine, but I am late. I gotta go!" she turned and hurried straight to the stairs. She was nearly at the front door when she heard her mother call out to her.

"Today is Saturday Marinette." She stopped in her tracks and took a moment to catch her breath. Then, embarrassed, she marched back up the stairs to face her parents again.

"Morning hero, do you want some fresh bagels?" her father asked happily. She nodded with a pout and moved over to the table, her dad gave her a kiss on the forehead as he went over to the counter.

"Oh, uh-Tikki, do you want anything?" he asked from across the room. The little kwami hesitantly floated up from behind Marinette's shoulder, not used to being included by her parents.

"Oh, um. Just a cookie would be great, thanks!" she chirped gladly. Marinette shared a tired smile with her companion and then flopped down into an empty seat.

Despite sleeping in, she hadn't slept long at all. Much to her displeasure, her parents had kept her up until well past midnight talking and asking about her powers. _Where did you get them? How do they work? Where did you get the suit? Who is Cat Noir?_

 _Why didn't you tell us?_

All she could tell them was, _You were never supposed to know_.

Sure, that felt like a dramatic excuse. But there was a very good reason for keeping her identity hidden. If word got out, or either of them ever got akumatized, they would know who she is and go after her. She wanted to tell them this, but she didn't want them to try and promise her something they couldn't. Even she's almost been akumatized several times, anything could happen. They didn't push it further.

"How are you feeling Marinette?" her mother prodded, breaking her inner thoughts. She knew what she was really asking, but avoided the question.

"Hungry, I totally forgot dinner last night. I could eat out the entire bakery." she quipped. Her mother smiled warmly and placed a hand on hers.

"Oh, by the way, you are not grounded for what happened at school anymore," she mentioned. Marinette sat upright and looked at her mother intently.

"Really?" she asked happily.

"Yup, but you're grounded for running off and making us worry. Oh, and for not telling us you are secretly a magic-wielding superhero." her mother finished. The heroine in question slumped forward and laid her head on the table in defeat.

Once she had finally gotten her fill of breakfast she announced she was going to have a shower and scurried off to the bathroom without so much as a change of clothes. Alone in the bathroom with Tikki, she leaned against the cool tiles and closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's so weird, I never imagined what it would be like if they ever knew…" she muttered.

"Um, Marinette…" Tikki said softly. Marinette met eyes with her kwami.

"I really don't want to get you in any more trouble. But I think we need to go talk to master Fu. I have a bad feeling." Tikki continued.

"Uh oh, about what?"

"Well, don't you think it's strange that they recognized you so easily?"

"Yeah, I guess. But that was probably my fault." Marinette broke eye contact at looked at the floor, but Tikki sank down into her line of vision and spoke in earnest,

"No, it's not. Because they're not supposed to be able to." Tikki assured her.

"Huh? How's that?" Marinette sounded eager to know.

Tikki thought for a second, "See, um how do I explain this? Well, when you transform there is an energy that surrounds you right? Well after you have become Ladybug the energy sticks around, like a… Like a mask, or a veil. It protects your identity. It makes it nearly impossible for people to recognize you when you are transformed, even if they know you really well."

"Really? Then why did my mom recognize me?" Marinette asked thoughtfully. Tikki shook her head sadly.

"I don't know, but I think Master Fu needs to know about this," she said solemnly. It didn't take long for Marinette to make her plan, she glanced around the bathroom with a determined look before stepping towards the shower.

"Well, this is important so my parents will just have to forgive me," she said resolutely.

"What are we going to do? You are still grounded." Tikki reminded her. The worried kwami landed on Marinette's shoulder.

"What they don't know won't kill them," she responded dismissively. She turned on the water for her shower and moved towards the bathroom door. Opening to door quietly, she looked up to stairs towards the kitchen. Over the din of the shower, she could vaguely hear her parents speaking in hushed tones.

Now confident, Marinette shared a look with Tikki and stepped into the hallway. She closed the bathroom door gingerly and began tiptoeing down the stair towards the front door. Midway, she paused and took a large step to avoid what she knew was the squeaky step. Gently placing her foot down on the next and making her way out the door. When she finally closed the front door behind her she released a harsh breath and sighed in relief.

"Good idea Marinette, now hurry before they notice!" Tikki urged quietly. Marinette hesitated, considering her parents recognized her so easily she needed to be extra careful. She moved her hands to one of her pigtails but stopped when she felt her wild hair.

"Oh god! My hair!" she whisper-screamed. Clapping her hands on her head, she felt an undeniably bad case of bed-head. Tikki giggled.

"Don't worry about that right now, Ladybug won't have messy hair," she promised. Still bothered, she started to speed-walk away from the bakery, crossing the street to walk alongside the park towards the Place des Vosges.

She ducked into an alleyway, double checking if there was anyone nearby, then turned to Tikki.

"Spots on!" she whispered. Once she had transformed she checked again for any bystanders. Then she ran straight up the wall and jumped onto the roof of the building. She started running, swinging and leaping between buildings, heading straight for Master Fu's apartment. She stepped onto a flat expanse of a roof that overlooked the river and nearly tripped over the edge when she saw _him_.

Adrien was surrounded by fences, leaning against the handrail on a bridge. A small blockade was set up around him and a photographer was kneeling and taking pictures.

 _What!? This photoshoot was scheduled for yesterday. Why are they out here?_

She couldn't help herself if she tried, so she kept going and moved closer to the bridge. She noticed a few girls had stopped by the fence to watch but Adrien's bodyguard glared at them until they became uneasy and decided to move away.

"Ahhh, this is exactly what I needed today," she said to herself dreamily. She watched Adrien, his left arm propped up on the railing and holding a bottle of his fragrance. His expression appeared to be wistful, but she could see through him. She crouched down and looked over the roof with her brows furrowed.

Even from so far away, Looking at his eyes she could tell he wasn't quite into it, and she could hear the photographer reprimanding him.

"No no! You need to look at that bottle like it holds the secret to love. Hold it like it is the most beautiful gemstone or a precious gift from your true love." he recited passionately. She smiled sympathetically and kept watching Adrien, _I have a couple of minutes._

She couldn't help but look at his eyes. Those eyes, they feel so familiar. A strange feeling overcame her, she felt like there was something important she had forgotten or been avoiding. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but didn't have enough time. When she realized that Adrien had met her gaze she squealed, laying flat on the roof to get out of his line of sight.

When she looked at him again, he was smiling gently at the bottle of perfume like it just did something cute. Sighing, she knew she needed to move on and stood up. Finally looking away, she ran off the far end of the building and swung over the streets, resuming her short journey to Master Fu.

* * *

 _Happy New Year Everyone! Thanks for reading. I just wanted to throw in something I learned while researching for this chapter. Originally I wanted to have Adrien of the_ _ **Pont des Arts**_ _bridge_ _, you know the bridge in Paris where people put locks on the railing to symbolized their love? Well, the staggering weight of all the locks was causing damage to the handrails so in 2015 they removed the fences with_ _45 tonnes of_ _locks on them._


	14. Chapter 14

When she made it to the familiar apartment building she snuck along the rooftops and dove into an alleyway. She hid behind a dumpster to remove her transformation and immediately felt her sleep-tossed hair pricking up in all directions. She tugged the ribbons from her pigtails and let her dark hair fall around her shoulders, gently running her fingers through the strands and wincing when they got caught.

"Here Tikki." She said after a moment. She dove hand into her pocket and pulled out a small candy, which Tikki happy dove after.

She hurried up to the door and climbed the stairs to Master Fu's apartment. When she made it there she knocked gently. Much to her surprise, the door opened slightly at her touch and she pushed it open the rest of the way.

"Hello? It's Marinette," she called hesitantly. When she stepped into the room she saw Master Fu standing by the phonograph that hid the miraculous' with a small black kwami floating by his head.

"Ahh, Ladybug. I had a feeling I would see you today." the old man said mysteriously as he turned towards her.

"Plagg, you left the door open." Wayzz scolded the feline kwami.

"Uh, hi. Is that Cat Noir's kwami? Why is he here?" Marinette asked hesitantly.

"He is here for the same reason you two are here." Master Fu responded direly.

"Because of the issue with the magic?" She asked. He nodded a silent response.

"Hmm, give me a second," he said gently, holding up his hand towards her. Master Fu shuffled towards the dresser on the other side of the room and began digging inside one of the drawers. Marinette closed the door quickly behind her and joined the two kwamis.

"Your name is Plagg, right? Nice to officially meet you." Marinette said cheerfully. She held her hand out towards the kwami. Plagg puffed out his chest and floated up to her eye level.

"We've actually met before. I am surprised you don't remember, I am pretty unforgettable." He purred with a smirk. She blinked at him in confusion.

"Have we?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh wait. I guess you never really saw me. The first time your eyes were closed, and the second time you were fighting off a hallucination of my-" Plagg started to explain his previous run-ins with the heroine but Tikki flew in and pressed her hand to his mouth before he accidentally gave Adrien away.

"He was here when you were fighting the nightmares caused by Sandboy, I guess you never noticed him." Tikki finished with a cheery smile.

"Uh, yeah I guess not," Marinette commented, a little distracted by the kwami's odd behaviour.

Master Fu walked back towards the group holding what appeared to be a brass letter opener. The handle was intricately carved with curling lines that spiralled into itself with several small gemstones embossed into it. The blade was narrow and pointed with four Chinese characters etched into its surface. From what little of the languages she knew Marinette could tell the second last character was for air, or… paper?

"Now that you are here I can be certain. Ladybug, would you let me see your earrings?" He asked carefully, holding out a hand towards her.

Marinette looked cautiously at Tikki and she gave a reassuring nod. Marinette moved her hair back, not used to it being loose, and unclipped her earrings one at a time before placing them gently into Master Fu's hand.

"This may take a minute." Master Fu warned. He clasped his hands together so that the knife and the earrings were pressed together and laced his fingers together. He closed his eyes tightly and held his hands out in front of him. The room went silent.

Marinette became uneasy and shared a look with Plagg. She Noticed that Wayzz had moved close to his miraculous holder and had his eyes closed as well. She was almost startled when Master Fu started making a low humming noise.

After a couple of long moments, her eyes began to drift around the room, her hand moving up to her head to gently pinch the space where her earrings used to be. She felt weirdly anxious without them and had to resist tapping her foot as the minutes dragged on.

"Ugh, come on! What is taking so long? I've got places to be!" Plagg shouted incredulously, breaking the atmosphere. All eyes were quickly on him and he backed away sheepishly.

"Patience is a virtue, my friend." Master Fu drawled with a gentle smile. He placed the knife on the table next to the Phonograph and handed Marinette's earrings back to her.

"There are many things to consider," Master Fu spoke, addressing them all. "I feel that something has disrupted the magic of the miraculous, but it probably isn't anything to worry about." Marinette and the kwamis shared a moment of relief until he continued grimly.

"However, as I am sure you noticed, your identity is at risk. The aura that protects you from being recognised has been temporarily weakened. Tell me, what brought you here today?" Marinette shuffled uncomfortably.

"Um, my parents recognized me last night. Tikki was worried what it could mean." She confessed. His eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"You are right to be worried. I am ashamed to say that even I am not certain the details of this magic. It would have happened when two people were transformed. The emotions of the miraculous holders can play into it as well. From what I do know, this could mean anything from your allies finding out each other's identities on Heroes day, or Hawkmoth." Marinette's blood ran cold. In her mind was the image of Hawkmoth's sneering face, humming with the beat of thousands of butterfly wings.

"Um, Well Al- Uh Reina Rouge recognised Carapace. But I think she knew before I even gave them the miraculous'." Marinette muttered thoughtfully.

"What does it mean Master?" Wayzz gasped. Marinette hugged herself anxiously and Master Fu shook his head.

"Perhaps if Hawkmoth came into contact with the holder of the peacock miraculous, or even found out your identities," he spoke solemnly.

"Found out someone's identity, while they are transformed?" Plagg muttered quietly. Tikki looked over at her black counterpart. She squinted suspiciously when he looked away.

"And there is no way you can find out what happened?" Marinette asked quickly.

"Ah, it is not so simple. We will have to do some investigating or wait until the answer is revealed. Until then, Plagg, you should ask your holder if he knows anything, and warn him." he encouraged. Marinette bit her lip nervously and saw the kwami nod distractedly.

She wanted to stick around and ask more, but she was ever aware of the time limit.

"Wow, great okay. Well, I gotta go now, smell you later." Plagg announced abruptly. Without another word he turned and flew straight through the wall.

"We better get going too," Tikki said, facing Marinette.

"Right, well thank you, Master Fu. I'll let you know if I find anything out." Marinette said, bowing slightly. He returned the gesture elegantly. At that, she left his apartment and stepped out of the building. When she returned behind the dumpster Tikki fluttered up to her eye level.

"Remember to put your hair up again before you transform," Tikki commented quietly.

"Oh, right. Thanks, Tikki." Marinette responded. She pulled her hair ties out of her pocket and gently put her hair into pigtails again. She sighed;

"Ahh, that's better. Alright, Tikki spots on!"

Ladybug leapt up, the alley was wide enough that she could hop between the buildings and scale the walls to get up onto the roof. She grappled her yo-yo onto a smoke stack and reeled herself onto a taller building, taking a moment to look out over the river, and back at the bridge where Adrien was. However it seemed that he was gone, the fences were still up and the photographer was sitting in a folding chair.

Out of habit, she cut right across the city to get home. Sweeping over the busy streets of Paris and drawing the attention of many people. She only stopped and looked back when a familiar voice caught her attention. Alya and Nino were together, arms linked and walking down the street. She turned to share a smile with her allies, but cold panic fell over her. If her mother could recognize her so easily than Alya was bound to as well.

So, barely acknowledging them, she continued running and swung across the street. _Sorry Alya._

When she made it home she had to swing right over her house and keep going. After a couple of houses, she ducked into a narrow alley, barely wide enough for her to turn around in.

"Spots off," she whispered, after making sure the coast was clear. She shimmied out onto the sidewalk. Out of habit, she reached for her bag to hide Tikki but quickly realized that she never had it with her. So Tikki ducked inside her jacket and they continued down the street.

She tiptoed towards the side door of the bakery and pushed it open quietly. There was nobody in the bakery yet so she went straight to the stairs she was halfway up when she stopped. The bathroom was silent, and the door was open.


	15. Chapter 15

She felt a rush that left her feeling lightheaded. She looked down at the front door, frozen in place. But instead of giving in to the temptation of avoiding a confrontation, she balled her hands into fists and marched up the stairs.

Despite herself, she stopped and crept slowly around the open doorway. Her parents were sitting on the couch and they looked up at her expectantly.

"Hey hun," Her dad said cheerfully. He patted the couch between him and his wife. Marinette stepped into the room but hesitated.

"I- uh needed to talk to Cat Noir. Something important is going on and he needs to know about it…" she explained.

"Relax, you're not in trouble." Her mother assured her.

"Why not?" Marinette questioned suspiciously. Her parents exchanged glances.

"Look, we've been talking and… Well, there aren't exactly any guides on being the parents of a superhero you know?" her father began. Marinette sat down between her parents.

"We want to know what's going on Marinette." her mother said gently, she placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder. The heroine looked down at her knees anxiously.

"Maybe we can't understand everything that's going on, but… You've already taken on this big responsibility. This whole time you have been hiding your identity from everyone. We even grounded you for skipping school, but that's because you were out there saving lives..." her father explained. He brought his arm up and looped it over his daughter's shoulder, resting his hand on his wife's hand.

"That doesn't make it okay," Sabine continued. "you still need to worry about your own life and goals outside of all that. But, we want to trust you more. The same way Paris trusts Ladybug. But you need to promise to trust us and not lie to us about this anymore. Okay?"

Her parents were asking her to be honest and the first thing she said when she came into the room was a lie. She swallowed. It was a simple request, but the implications were huge.

"Okay," she said finally. Her father tightened his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. With that, she relaxed. If she was going to trust them on this, she was happy to start by not worrying so much about it.

"Am I still grounded?" She asked sheepishly over her father's shoulder. She felt his chest rumble as he laughed.

"No, you're not." He replied.

Later that night, Marinette was studying again. This time she was at the kitchen table with her dad looking over her shoulder.

"How's it going." He asked. She glanced at him with tired eyes and dropped her pencil.

"Good, I'm not worried. It wasn't even a big test, so it should be easy." She said, punctuating the end of the sentence with a yawn.

"Don't underestimate it again Marinette," Tikki said knowingly.

"Hm, what's that?" her mother muttered. Marinette glance over to the window where her mother was peering out into the dusk laden streets.

"What is it?" her father got up and looked out the window. Marinette almost jumped when he let out a laugh of surprise.

"Well look what we have got here," he said. Marinette got up and joined her parents at the window with Tikki right behind her. All Marinette could see were a few people walking down the streets and a group of people that had stopped by the corner.

But when her father pointed across the street she followed his finger and noticed what they talking about. That group of people on the corner was crowded around Cat Noir. He was standing in the shadows so his black outfit had melted him into the background, but now that the noticed him there was no mistaking that ragged golden hair.

"Ugh." she sighed. "What's the big deal it's just Cat Noir." she groaned. The group of people around him started to grow as another couple joined in.

"You two are local celebrities." her mother commented. Marinette puffed, crossing her arms.

"He shouldn't be out there like that. He needs to lay low, not flaunt himself." She looked out at the scene again. A woman in an oversized scarf stepped forward and spoke to Cat Noir, a moment later she stood close to him and held out her phone for a picture.

"You right Marinette, any of those people could recognize him," Tikki said nervously.

"Oh dear, maybe you should go talk to him then," Sabine suggested.

"I doubt he's that popular Tikki. But I guess I better do something before someone recognises him," Marinette replied grumpily. She walked away from her parents

"Didn't you warn him about this earlier?" Tom asked.

"Um, no. Oh! No, because I couldn't find him. It's, um. I can only communicate with him when we're both transformed." Marinette explained quickly. Her parents accepted the answer curiously. Tikki drifted up by Marinette's face and turned towards Tom and Sabine.

"Ready?" the kwami asked happily. Marinette nodded but realized that Tikki was talking to her parents, they both looked excited to see her transform. She smiled and said proudly, "Alright, Tikki spots on!"

When she bright pink light had faded Ladybug glanced eagerly at her parents to see their reactions. They both had wide eyes, Tom looked more shocked but Sabine had a wide smile on her face.

"Incredible! Where did it all come from?" Tom asked excitedly, Standing up and fawning over his superhero daughter.

"It's magic." Ladybug giggled. She offered her parents a clumsy salute then ran up the stairs and into her room. Out of habit she grappled the railing of her bed and burst straight through the hatch and into the crisp night air.

"Oops," she whispered to herself. She peered carefully over the edge of the building to make sure nobody had noticed her. Thankfully, Cat Noir had his onlookers pretty distracted.

She snuck around the wall that covered the chimney and grappled onto a building in the opposite direction so that she could circle around and join the group across from the bakery.

She stopped one building over to plan her next move, but she was saved the trouble when Cat Noir flashed a smile at her and waved. The heroine grinned awkwardly when the crowd of people turned to look up at her.

"Ladybug! Down here!" one of the people called out.

"Actually, I'd better split. Can't keep m'lady waiting." Cat Noir said courteously. A couple of his fans expressed disappointment at his untimely departure, but he paid them no mind and used his staff to extend himself upwards.

"And a most wonderful evening to you m'Ladybug." he purred, dipping his head in a sweeping bow. She felt her cheeks pinch with embarrassment at Cat Noirs awkward display and rolled her eyes, a gesture that he seemed immune to at this point.

"Let's move somewhere else," she suggested tensely. There was no way she could talk to him with that army of cellphones pointed up at them from the street. They hopped over a couple of buildings until nobody would be able to see them from the streets.

"Okay, so what was that about?" she asked. She stood with her arms crossed, fixing him with an accusatory glare. He almost looked like he was going to laugh at her, but settled on a playful smile instead.

"Well, I needed to talk to you, and I knew that if I drew a crowd your jealousy would get the better of you," he said teasingly. A chill ran up her spine, _what are the odds that he would choose to do that right in front of my house?_ She _tsk'd_.

"This is no time for messing around. You should know better than to draw attention to yourself right now." she snapped.

"Why? What's going on?" his voice took on a concerned edge.

"Huh? Your kwami didn't tell you what happened?" she asked, dropping her arms to her sides. He tilted his head and he shrugged.

"That's kind of why I wanted to find you. My kwami went somewhere important but when he got back he never told me what happened. I even tried to bribe him with extra fancy cheese, you would not believe how bad my room smells right now." he explained, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the memory.

"He didn't tell you anything?" she asked curiously.

"Nope, and I'm not sure why." He noted, but he did have a guess. When Plagg met him back in the trailer during the photoshoot he seemed uneasy. He mentioned a couple times that he messed up. When Adrien asked him what was going on he said it was his own fault and he didn't want Adrien to get in trouble for it.

"Ugh, where do I start?" Ladybug muttered, looking thoughtful.

"Well, why can't I be in public?" He prompted.

"Okay, so there's this magic. It's from the miraculous, and it prevents people that know you from recognising you when you are transformed." he watched her as she explained, frowning seriously and nodding. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Something happened, recently, and whatever it was caused this magic to stop working."

"Okay, that sounds pretty serious. What happened?" he commented.

Ladybug sighed, for some reason, she didn't feel like she had the patience to explain everything to him. Maybe because all that information had been bouncing around in her head all day.

"We don't know. I mean we can guess, but there are so many things that could have happened. I just hope it was one of our allies, not our enemies." She barely wanted to consider Hawkmoth as the answer.

"You didn't- recognise any of our allies on Heroes day did you?" she asked hopefully.

"No, why? Is that how it was broken?" Before the words even came out he felt his eyes widen in realization.

"Yeah, I- uh don't really understand how it works. But master Fu said it has something to do with the miraculous holders, while they are transformed." she picked at her fingernails anxiously while she thought about it.

"Maybe because we all know that Chloe is Queen Bee or if she..." she said thoughtfully. "No, it must have happened more recently." she glanced over at Cat Noir. He was looking away, brows pinched with worry, scratching the back of his head.

"Cat Noir?" she said. He looked back up at her quickly and gave her a forced smile.

"Uhh, what about Chloe? You said it could have been her?" he asked quickly.

"No, I don't think so. I can't believe that Chloe would be quiet about it if she recognized any of us, and if it was from Hero's day I think we would have noticed the effects sooner," she explained thoughtfully.

"This sounds like pretty a big deal, is there some way to fix it?" he asked.

"Um, I don't know. I think Master Fu needs to find out what caused it before he can figure out how to fix it." Cat Noir looked away.

"Oh," he said under his breath.

"Man, I hate all this unknown stuff, it's like I don't even know what to worry about. I guess I'll just have to go ask Reina Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee." she declared.

"I- uh, can go ask Chloe if you want." he volunteered hesitantly, still avoiding eye-contact.

"Will you? You really would take a bullet for me wouldn't you?" she giggled. He laughed nervously.

"Yeah... I'd better go then. Before it gets late." he muttered, turning away from her.

"Sure, call me if you find anything out okay? Thanks again," she called to him, He turned and looked back at her as she starting running off. She sight of her moving away sent his heart racing.

"Wait!" he cried. She stopped and turned back toward him. "It was me."


	16. Chapter 16

"Huh? Did you say something?" She asked, facing him curiously. He had his hand on his neck, breathing slightly heavy. ' _Don't give me an out...'_ he thought guiltily.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," he said shakily.

"What is it?" she asked, confused. He could see the worry in her eyes as she looked at him. He looked down.

"I, um. I'm sorry. I lied, it was me." he admitted.

"Huh?" her body stiffened defensively and she watched him carefully. "So you did see someone?"

"Yeah, I mean… I'm sorry. I just, I can't keep this from you. After what I did…" He crossed his arms over his chest, hunching forwards and hugging himself.

"What exactly did you do?" As she watched him she noticed how pale he looked.

"I- uh. On Wednesday, after we fought Blowout. I followed you." His entire body felt cold and he found himself fighting to urge to run. In his mind, he saw his father facing away from him, cold and unyielding.

"What?"

"I broke the magic that day, and you needed to know. I'm sorry." he barely felt himself speak. He didn't directly say what happened, but she quickly connected the dots. Despite her efforts to avoid _that_ conclusion.

"I-I ." She clenches her fists, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "I can't believe, you…"

"I know… I'm so-"

"You promised!" she shouted. Her fingers curled into fists, and she stared at him with wide and frightened eyes.

"You said you wouldn't bother about that anymore! You said-" She hugged her arms tight, not quite able to register what was going on. She looked away from him, her shoulders heaving with shaky breaths.

"I'm sorry." He said hoarsely. He was a little caught off guard by her reaction, but he felt like he shouldn't have been.

Without another word, he started to run. He didn't bother turning around and ran right past her.

"Idiot!" he scolded himself. He jumped to the next building, running blindly across the roof. He followed a line of buildings until the end of the street. He slowed to a stop and pulled off his staff, glancing at it remorsefully, before using it to vault across the street and continue homewards.

* * *

"Marinette? Are you back?" Sabine called from the kitchen.

Marinette was curled up in her bed, she covered her face to muffle her sniffing and cleared her throat before responding.

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm just going to bed." She answered, in the clearest voice she could manage. Her mom must not have heard the wavering in her voice.

"So early?" Her mother asked. She could her voice clearer as she climbed the stairs to the hatch.

Marinette quickly sat up and wiped the tears from her face. Tikki didn't want to see Marinette keep lying to her parents and decided to fly down to the entrance to the room. Sabine was surprised when she opened the trap door and Tikki was right there.

"Oh! Uh… Tikki? Hello. Is everything okay?" She asked. Tikki smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Don't worry Mrs, we've been transforming a lot recently and it can get a little tiring. That's all!" She explained happily. Sabine was visibly relieved and smiled back at the little creature.

"Oh, I see. Well, Marinette has been studying hard, you two deserve a break. Goodnight girls." She took a moment to look at her daughter. From where she was she could only see her silhouette from up in the loft. Then Sabine ducked beneath the floor and closed the hatch.

Marinette took a deep breath and sat back on her bed, as Tikki returned to her she gave her a grateful smile.

"Sorry," she said sadly. Tikki sighed delicately and looked up at her owner with big worried eyes.

"I know this is a lot to take in, and what he did was very unfair. But when you figure it out, I will be here to talk. When you're ready." Tikki said gently. Marinette watched her kwami, it was moments like these that she remembered how old and wise her companion really was. It was easy to forget sometimes.

"Thanks, Tikki."

* * *

"I should have told you what happened, this is my fault," Plagg admitted, his voice uncharacteristically regretful. Adrien huffed sadly into his pillow and turned his head. Plagg was laying on the Pillow right next to his face, he was so close that his eyes crossed when he tried to look at him.

"No, I am the one who did it." He argued. Plagg closed his eyes thoughtfully.

"Mmm." Plagg grumbled. "that still doesn't make me feel better though." Adrien chuckled bitterly at his kwami's behaviour. He turned around to lie his back and brought his arm over his reddened eyes.

After a moment he felt a soft warm weight on his forehead. He moved his arm and looked up, Plagg's fluffy little tail flicked over his eyes and he felt the little creature sigh.

"I'm sorry I can't be like the ladybug, Adrien," Plagg whispered.

"Huh?" He wasn't certain where that came from. He looked up as far as he could without moving and could just see Plagg's chin resting on his eyebrow.

"Tikki, Ladybugs kwami. It's just, arg- She would know what to say right now." Plagg grumbled. Adrien felt Plagg twist around and spread his limbs over Adrien's face, so he closed his eyes against the pea-sized black paws.

He moved his hand up to scratch the tiny black cat and he smiled when he felt Plagg purr.

* * *

"Okay, what haven't I made for him yet?" Marinette asked aloud. She was scrolling online for inspiration. After last night's stressful events she had decided to devote herself to something she knew would make her forget about everything else: Adrien.

He had been acting weird. Pulling her out of class, talking to her differently. He had even rescheduled his photoshoot without her knowing.

Of course, when she messaged him she practically wrote him a book, but she managed to whittle it down into a few sentences over the course of the morning. She tried to ignore the fact that he hadn't even looked at any them and chalked it up to him being busy. He was a mystery that needed to be solved and she happily forgot all about Cat Noir.

"Marinette?! Are you busy?" her father called her. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Mmmm... kinda?" she called back. She could hear his heavy footsteps enter the kitchen and move towards the base of the stairs that lead to her room.

"We need to finish an order, could you watch the till for a little bit?" he asked. She shrugged at Tikki and turned the screen off on her computer. Then they followed her father down to the bakery.

"Maybe I should bake him something?" she said thoughtfully. Tikki responded with an enthusiastic "Mmhm!"

A couple of hours later the customer she had just helped was leaving, as he walked away the balding man reminded her of Master Fu. She felt all the muscles in her chest tighten and a wave of stress hit her like a pile of wet dough. When the customer had left she spoke to Tikki in a hushed tone.

"Tikki, do you think we should tell Master Fu what happened?" she asked regretfully. Tikki looked at her from under the counter and nodded.

"Yeah, I think we should," she confirmed. Another half-hour passed before her parents relieved her of cash register duty.

"I am going to go out for a bit," Marinette announced, making her way to the stairs. Her parents stopped what they were doing and looked up at her.

"Not so fast young lady." her father called to her, turning from the oven and pulling his oven-mitts off. Marinette stopped and looked back at them.

"Remember last night I told you, you weren't grounded?" Her father said, looking slightly sheepish. "Well, what I meant was that the other half of you isn't but Marinette is."

"What?" Marinette's voice rose in pitch. She felt crushed by disappointment, especially since she had already messaged Alya, telling her that she wasn't grounded anymore and asking her over to study. She looked at the ground stiffly.

"I know, it doesn't seem fair. But we just needed to lay some ground rules." her father continued empathetically. An alarm sounded behind him and he turned quickly back to the oven. Her mother stepped forward to take his place.

"If it is hero related, and you can prove it then you can go." her mother explained.

"Okay… Well, it is actually hero stuff. It's about everything that's been going on recently. I need to tell-" she hesitated mid-sentence. "Uh- Cat Noir, about the stuff he said last night." she cringed at her own excuse.

"Is that true?" Sabine asked, looking at Tikki for confirmation. The red kwami looked at her owner curiously for a second but nodded encouragingly and gave a little "Uh-huh!"

"We have a friend that knows all about our powers, and we need to tell him what we learned from Cat Noir." Tikki provided happily. Marinette tensed up and let out an involuntary squeak. She swiftly grabbed Tikki and said in a rush:

"It's-fine-we-better-go-now-thanks-love-you-bye!" Then she ran up the stairs before her parents could get another word in.

"What's wrong Marinette? Why won't you tell them about Master Fu?" Tikki asked when Marinette released her at the top of the stairs.

"I don't know how to explain it to you… I just don't think I should tell my parents I am going to visit some strange old man's house by myself." She explained anxiously.

"But we know him, and you're not alone!" Tikki said encouragingly. Marinette grunted thoughtfully.

"But they don't and, I don't know, the less they know the better?" she shrugged. Tikki still seemed unhappy about it, so Marinette gave her a smile.

"It's okay Tikki. I just gotta get my purse before we go."

* * *

She was now sitting down in Master Fu's apartment once again. After she had timidly knocked on the door and been invited in, he placed a cup of tea in her hands and sat her down. While she explained the story he nodded grimly and closed his eyes.

"I understand now, thank you for coming here to explain." he thanked her.

"So, is there some way of fixing this?" she asked desperately. At this point, she had almost forgotten about the identity risk. All of her attention and worrying had been hijacked by Cat Noir's confession.

"Mmhm," he mumbled thoughtfully. "In a case like this, it is no surprise that it had such an effect. If it had been any other miraculous' it would not have been as severe. In this case, the only thing we can do is wait."

"Arg, I was afraid you were going to say that." she groaned. Fu smiled at the dramatic teenager and ran his fingers along his goatee.

"You are not going to like this, but due to the nature of the magic and its connection to the users, the energy would regenerate faster if you could reconcile with Cat Noir, " he explained. Marinette looked away uncomfortably.

"I think she needs time, Master." Tikki urged him.

"Well, you are going to have to someday. Just because you forgive him doesn't mean you condone what he did. Honestly, I can't understand Plagg sometimes..." Wayzz interjected.

"Give it some thought. But as long as it wasn't hawkmoth all you need to do is be cautious. In time things will work out." Master Fu said gently.

* * *

 _T_ _hank you so much for reading and enjoying! This story has become way bigger than I first envisioned so I am happy that you guys like it!_


	17. Chapter 17

Marinette had a lot on her mind so she decided to walk home, at first. Eventually, she realized just how much longer walking across town would take and opted for the train instead. In a daze, she went through the motions of travelling on the train by habit alone. She finally came to her senses when she was walking down a familiar street and found herself standing in front of the gate of a very familiar mansion.

She stood there in shock for a moment, her cheeks heating up when she realized she had auto-piloted right to Adrien's front door.

"Hello? What do you want?" Nathalie's voice asked abruptly.

"Wah! Um, I'm sorry I didn't- I mean, I didn't want to come here so I guess I don't _need_ anything… Haha, but I am friend Adrien, I-I mean Adrien's friend. I just wanted to, um see- him. Heh heh..." _No, no what are you doing?! Ugh, what a disaster!_

"... Yes, I remember you. Unfortunately, he is wont be available this weekend and he… does not currently have access to his phone. If you want to speak to him you will have to wait until you see him at school." with that the camera on the wall disappeared.

Even with such a cold reply, Marinette felt relieved that she hadn't accidentally dug herself into another hole. Not that being invited into Adrien's house would have been such a bad thing…

She continued down the street to get away from the gate camera, then took a moment to collect her thoughts. On top of everything else, she kept forgetting to worry about Adrien.

"Marinette! How was it?" Tom asked as his daughter finally returned to the bakery. She slumped through the door and walked into her dad, leaning her head against him.

"Long day…" she muttered into his flour caked shirt. He chuckled and carefully put down a loaded tray of macarons to pat her on the shoulder.

"Care to fill us in?" he asked with an eyebrow quirked. She shook her head, effectively rubbing more flour into her hair.

"Maybe later," she said tiredly. She went back up the stairs, through the kitchen and up to her room. Then collapsed unceremoniously on her fainting couch because she couldn't bring herself to climb up to her bed.

"I think I need a nap…" Marinette grumbled into the pillow. Tikki pushed open Marinette's purse from the inside and flew out into the room.

"I think you deserve one. Remember to take time for yourself, all the busy work has been done. Besides it's like Master Fu said, all we can do now is wait." Tikki comforted her. Marinette smiled at her kwami and closed her eyes gratefully.

' _It was me...I watched you go home on my miraculous._ '

She opened her eyes grumpily. After several minutes of letting her thoughts race beneath her closed eyes, she finally decided to give up. She sat up and let out an annoyed sigh.

Marinette forced herself onto her tired feet and sat down in front of her desk, Tikki followed her curiously. After another moment she pulled out a sketchbook and a regular school pencil. Propping her head up on her left arm she started to doodle mindlessly. Tikki landed on the desk and watched her.

First, it was just scribbles, then the scribbles turned into silhouettes. She turned to a new page and started drawing a face than then roughly sketched in a neck and shoulders. She slumped tiredly and laid her head on the desk, looking at her drawing with one eye as she absently sketched away.

Marinette was quiet, looking down at her drawing with a confused expression. Tikki turned back to the picture, it was a little messy but she could kind of see that it was Adrien. But the way she drew the eyes and the messy hair made him look like someone else...

"Who is it supposed to be?" Tikki asked cautiously. Marinette glanced up to one of her many pictures of Adrien.

"It's Adrien…" she said thoughtfully. Tikki watched her carefully for a moment.

"I guess the hair is a little different." Tikki giggled. She waited for Marinette to brush it off as usual, but Marinette grabbed her phone and pulled up a picture of Cat Noir, holding it up next to a picture of Adrien.

The silence was deafening. Tikki floated next to Marinette's head, waiting for a reaction. After a minute Tikki prodded:

"Marinette?" she asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh! Um, phew! Just checking. I for a second I thought they looked similar, but that's crazy! Right?" Marinette grinned nervously and turned off her phone. Tikki tried to hold back her dumbfounded reaction, sighing deeply.

"I think you need to trust yourself more Marinette." the kwami replied simply. Marinette frowned at her feet, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Why do I feel so gross right now?" Marinette asked defeatedly

"It's stress," Tikki said gently, floating closer to Marinette. "Or this." Tikki finished, playfully ruffling Marinette's bangs and unleashing some flour.

"Ugh, okay. I think I really need that shower now." Marinette muttered.

* * *

"I hate this." Adrien muttered. Plagg, who was floating by Adrien's head in a relaxed position, glanced down t him tiredly.

"Me too. Wait- what are you talking about?"

"I don't know what to do Plagg! I feel like the longer I lay here doing nothing the bigger the rift between us." Adrien complained.

"Um… I am not following."

"She probably hates me. I really can't blame her…" Adrien slumped forward, elbows propped on his desk and his chin on his hands

"Oh, Ladybug? Nah, I don't think she cares. At least she didn't seem very upset about it when I saw her yesterday." Adrien sat up and gave Plagg a bewildered look.

"What?" the black Kwami asked. "When I went to talk to Master Fu? All she was worried about was her parents finding out."

"She was there? You still haven't told me anything about what happened yesterday. Besides, I was talking about last night. When I confessed to basically stalking her." finally saying it out loud, Adrien put his hands on his face and sank into his office chair.

"Oh, yeah. That was pretty bad."

"Gee, thanks…"

"Eh, helping isn't really my strong suit," Plagg admitted.

"I'll just have to wait until tomorrow. At least Adrien is still on good terms with her."

"Unless she is freaked out from when you tried to drag her into a dark alley with you."

"Oh god!" Adrien groaned

* * *

 _Sorry for the shorter chapter, the end is approaching and I want to make sure it is fitting. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions please feel free to leave a review!_


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning Marinette was back at school. The events of the last few days were weighing heavily on her as she stepped towards the base of the stairs that framed the entrance of the building. When she took her first step up her foot caught on the stair and she tripped, her arms flailing wildly to regain balance.

"Hey, Marinette! How's it going?" Rose called to her. Marinette swiftly regained her balance and turned towards her friends as Rose and Juleka approached.

"H-Hey guys! I'm good how about you?" she responded quickly. Through the fog of adrenaline, she became suddenly afraid that they might recognize her as Ladybug. She followed them anxiously, exchanging pleasantries as they climbed the stairs together.

"...Ladybug…"

"Huh!?" Marinette whisked around to where Max and Nathaniel were looking over a large sketchbook just inside the entrance of the school. They both looked up in surprise at her outburst.

"Oh, good morning Marinette! Want to see what I am working on?" Nathaniel asked, blushing slightly. She managed to collect herself once again and nod at him, so he turned the book around eagerly to show her a large pencil drawing of Ladybug mid-swing.

"That's so cool!" Rose commented happily.

"I-I was just wondering, what do you think of it? I mean, I want to make sure the pose looks natural." Nathaniel asked Marinette sheepishly. Her hackles went up and she sputtered for a second.

"Wha- wh-why would I know anything about Ladybug?" she asked in a panic. He looked confused and then disappointed. He looked away and started to apologise.

'Oh, I didn't mean- I just wanted to know- from another artists perspective… But if you don't want to that's okay…" he said sadly.

"Oh no no! I-it's really good Nathaniel." she apologised. She fought the urge to rub her hands down her face smiled reassuringly at him. "Sorry, I am just tired," she explained. He relaxed visibly and returned the smile.

"Hey, that's okay. You're retaking the test today right?" he asked sympathetically.

"Huh? You know about that?" she questioned. He seemed to realize himself and he looked away, blushing visibly.

"Oh, I was uh- just worried about you is all." He muttered.

"You and Adrien were the only two that failed right?" Max asked, stepping in as Nathaniel became flustered.

"That's odd, isn't Adrien a genius or something?" Rose added curiously. "Not that you aren't a genius Marinette. In my opinion, it is just as strange that you failed."

"Yeah," Juleka respond. Marinette looked downcast at the floor. Did everyone in her class know?

"Good morning everyone." a familiar friendly voice interrupted. Adrien and Nino stepped into the group that had formed around Marinette.

"Hey, dude- uh Marinette. Ready for your test?" Nino asked her.

"Why does everyone know about that?" she pouted.

"Alya told me!" Rose answered.

"Rose told me," Max said.

"Max told me." Nathaniel almost whispered.

"Alya told me too," Nino added. "Hey, at least you won't be the only one, right?" he laughed, elbowing Adrien playfully.

"Yeah, I'm glad we get to redo the test together Marinette, and I know you'll do great," Adrien said happily. _Oh man, he looks like he's in a good mood! Kind and amazing as always._

"T-thanks! You did the test? I-I mean you are ready for the test?"

"Yup, it was a pretty- um long weekend. I wish we could have studied together but my dad was pretty upset that I failed." Adrien said sheepishly.

"T-together?" Marinette stuttered. She imagined spending the weekend at Adrien's house studying. Would he have recognized her as Ladybug? _That wouldn't be so bad, right?_ She thought dreamily. But the thought that he could be targeted if he was seen with Ladybug was quickly sobering.

"Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late, did I miss anything?" Alya asked from behind, Marinette's wild thoughts came to a halt as Alya walked up to them and put one arm on Marinette's shoulder. Marinette tensed up, both relieved and frustrated by Alya's interruption.

"No, not really," Marinette muttered. She would hate to admit it, but she was dreading to see Alya. Of everyone, she was by far the most likely to recognize her as Ladybug.

"We should really get our stuff and get to class soon guys," Max said suddenly. They all looked at the time quickly to confirm he was right. Then they hurried to the lockers to get their things before they headed up to class together.

During class Marinette felt refreshed, but she could still feel her anxiety buzzing beneath the surface. She was playing a dangerous game. Trying to sound as un-Ladybug like as possible whilst also acting normal enough for Alya not to notice that something was up. When lunchtime finally came Marinette debated walked home as usual. Adrien came out of the school when his bodyguard arrived and Marinette walked out with him.

"Sorry, I would invite you over for lunch but I am still grounded and I know Nathalie wouldn't let you stay," Adrien told her sorrowfully.

"Me? Your house?" she squealed." Uh- I mean, don't worry about it. I certainly don't want to get you into any trouble!" Marinette responded shakily. He laughed good-naturedly and smiled. His bodyguard got out of the car and opened the back door for him so he stepped towards the car.

"See you," he said. She nodded happily and waved frantically at him as he sat down. She waited for the car to pull away before she started her own trip home. She spent her lunchtime scanning over her textbook for some last minute studying, at Tikki's insistence. Regretfully, she lost track of time and had to rush back to school a couple of minutes late.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Marinette panted. She finally burst into the classroom just as Ms Bustier was closing the door. The teacher gave her a long look before sighing.

"Just sit down Marinette." she smiled tiredly. Adrien smiled brightly at her as she crossed in front of him to get to her seat. She tripped as soon as she turned towards the step. But Adrien was at the ready and caught her arms before she fell. She felt something familiar pass between them as she looked up to his eyes for a moment, but Chloe snickering behind her broke the warm feeling in her stomach. She snapped to attention, brushing herself off and thanking Adrien profusely.

The rest of school was like a repeat of the previous week. Adrien kept glancing up at her periodically throughout class. He was being more discreet, but it was hard for Marinette to miss him every time he would turn to meet her already staring eyes. When Alya was sitting in the locker room with Marinette after classes had ended, she teased her about it relentlessly/

"My god, you two couldn't keep your eyes off of each other." She cooed, leaning her cheek on her palm.

"Ugh, I know…" Marinette squeaked. She was curled up on the bench with face buried in her arms. Most other students had left so Marinette decided she needed a few minutes to cool off before she went to Ms Mendeleiev's room to take the test.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Alya asked seriously. Marinette pulled her head up and gave her friend a tired grin.

"I'm sure I will be fine." She straightened up and her a fist in the air. "I won't be able to hang out with Adrien if I stay grounded, so I _won't_ fail again," she announced to the world. "... and my best friend Alya," she added after Alya gave her a look.

They packed up the small number of things they needed and left the room, stopping shortly before they parted ways.

"Good luck," Alya whispered, before sending Marinette off. She could see Adrien waiting outside the science room so she took a deep breath and went to stand next to him

"Hey." he greeted, sounding slightly exasperated. "Ms Mendeleiev said she would call us in."

"Okay. So... everything- okay?" she asked carefully. He smiled like he was trying not to laugh and closed his eyes briefly.

"Apparently Chloe was looking for me, so I had to employ some evasive manoeuvres to get here in one piece."

"I'm surprised. You are normally really patient with her." she giggled.

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind, and I don't want her giving you a hard time." He confided.

She took a deep breath that came out shaky. She wanted so badly to help him, but regardless of how much she knew about him she really wasn't very close to him. The air felt heavy between them as a couple of silent moments past.

"So, Adrien…" she started.

"Don't worry..." he said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise and giggled.

"Yes?" He smiled kindly at her, waiting for her to continue

"Oh, me? No, you should go first." she insisted. He made a humming sound and looked at her thoughtfully.

"I just wanted to say… that everything will get worked out, and that I don't want you to worry," he said.

"Huh?" Her heart started racing. He looked at her so genuinely, and she couldn't help but think that he wasn't talking about the test. So, in a moment of daring, she said what was on her mind.

"Thanks, I- um… Adrien, I don't know w-what you're going through." she gripped the hem of her shirt. "And I don't know what you wanted from me on the other day… But I- I mean if you still want to talk about it, I would be more than happy to. You are a- precious friend of mine, and I really want to help you." her heart was pounding in her ears. _Was that too much? Was that technically a confession? Oh no, what have I done!_

His heart swelled, he felt like he wanted to cry tears of joy. What had he done to deserve someone like her, especially after what he did? There were so many things he wanted to say to her, apologise for.

"Thank you," he said genuinely. "Don't worry about me, I guess I jussstttttt-" his last word got dragged out was his attention was caught. Behind Marinette, he saw Chloe walking towards them from down the hall.

"We should get into the class," He said quickly. His Cat Noir instincts took over and he grabbed her shoulders, steering her around to get into the classroom before Chloe could corner them.

"Phew, sorry about that. I just don't feel like dealing with her right now…" he told her when they got into the doorway. He looked down at her and noticed the was blushing and tense so released her like he had been shocked.

"Sorry," he muttered. She just smiled brightly up at him.

"Excuse me! Did I say you two could come in yet?" Ms Mendeleiev said in surprise. She stood up from her desk and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Sorry, we were just trying to get away from-" Marinette started. Chloe stomped into the room

"What are you doing running away from me like that? I just want to talk." she insisted angrily.

"Sorry, Chloe. We are just here to retake our test remember? We aren't running away from you." Adrien lied calmly.

"Yeah, sorry if it came off that way," Marinette said.

"Ms Bougeoirs, unless you were instructed to retake last weeks chemistry test you need to spend your lunch elsewhere. You can speak with Ms Dupain-Cheng and Mr Agreste later." Ms Mendeleiev ordered. Chloe made a harrumph and tilted her chin upwards.

"Whatever, I didn't _want_ to talk to them anyways. Don't come crying to me when I don't apologise to you in the future then." And just as quickly as she has cornered them, she was gone.

Ms Mendeleiev sighed when she was finally gone and sat down heavily in her chair.

"Alright, I was just about ready for you anyway. Take your seats and we will start as soon as Mr Chiến Lê gets here." the teacher instructed. She guided them to their designated spots, on opposite sides of the room, then helped them access their tests on their tablets. Marinette fought the urge to go after Chloe and see if she was actually going to apologise, but she had already failed this test and didn't want to risk running out on it. Several quiet minutes later Kim rushed in and they were ready to take the test.


	19. Chapter 19

Adrien quietly closed the classroom door, leaving Kim and Marinette to finish their tests. He wanted to wish her luck somehow, but the teacher had been watching him like a hawk since the moment he stood up.

"Ugh, what a day…" he commented to himself. On the outside, it seemed normal enough, but he had been killing himself all day fretting over Marinette. He leaned against a wall and pulled out his phone, debating whether he should call his bodyguard now or wait until Marinette was done. _I should be ashamed of myself, acting so casually towards her after everything I have done…_

He was staring frustrated at his phone when he started to remember his encounter with Chloe just before the test.

 _He was in the locker room when the familiar sound of a throat clearing caught his attention. He flinched visibly and met eyes with Chloe. She was standing by herself just in the entrance._

" _Hey Adrikins" Chloe giggled, sauntering towards him. He rubbed the back of his head and looked away, despite her usual aloofness an uneasy energy surrounded them._

" _Hey Chloe, how's it going?" He asked kindly._

" _Ugh, don't get me started. I can't believe the teacher got so worked up the other day."_

" _Yeah, speaking of which. Chloe, I think you need to apologize. Honestly, I think you overreacted when you essentially got her fired for doing her job."_

" _Mmmmh!" She grunted angrily. She looked away, puffing her reddened cheeks in embarrassment. "I… I know…" She took a deep breath and spoke slowly as if she was reciting a poem she had almost forgotten. "I- wanted to apologize."_

" _Aw, Chloe."_

" _Hey, I am a superhero I have a certain standard to uphold."_

" _Well, I am not sure where she is now. But I know she'll be happy to hear what you have to say."_

" _Yeah yeah, I know. But it's you I really need to apologize too._

" _Don't worry about me Chlo, maybe you can apologize to Marinette…"_

" _Listen, I'll apologize to you later because I know you will forgive me." He gave her a disapproving glare." I just don't think you should be friends with her."_

" _What- what do you mean-"_

" _Just hear me out Adrikins! Think of it as, a woman's intuition. You've been, like, distracting her and stuff so you're bad for her, no offence. But bad stuff happens when she is around, she is bad luck. Just look at her legendary her clumsiness. I have known her-"_

" _What!? That's enough Chloe, I know her better than you think, and you have no right to choose who I am friends with. Don't bother trying to apologize." Adrien swept past her before she could start talking again._

A lifetime of being friends with Chloe had given him a great immunity to her antics, but anything involving Marinette had become a sore spot for him. He groaned and hurried down the steps and out the front door. _Since when had my social life become so stressful?_ He was still staring at his phone as he walked down the steps towards the street.

"Oh hey, how's it going?"

That voice- please don't let that be who I think it is. Adrien froze and looked hesitantly up at the street towards a figure leaning against a motorbike.

"Hey, Luka…" Adrien greeted sadly. A burning feeling started churning in the back of Adrien's mind. _Why him?_ "...whats up? What are you doing here?" He asked hesitantly. Luka smiled casually at him.

"Oh, Juleka told me about the test so I thought I would hang around and give Marinette a ride home." Luka shrugged. Adrien forced a smile through gritted teeth.

"Wow, how nice of you! Too bad she lives literally across the street huh?" Adrien hissed politely. He gestured towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery that was in fact directly next to the school. Adrien's mind reeled from his own out of character bitterness, he almost wanted to apologize.

Luka averted his gaze and glanced at the sidewalk bashfully, scratching at his cheek. "Well, I was hoping to take her out for ice cream or something. To thank her and celebrate acing this test." He explained. Adrien immediately imagined transforming and throwing Luka into the canal.

"Nice." He said instead. "Well-" Adrien could feel his Cat-Noir side coming out. He knew if he didn't reign it in now he would say something he would really regret. He slumped in on himself and averted his gaze from the ever-polite Luka. "Good luck with that…" he muttered.

Adrien hurried past Luka, wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. _What, am I going to walk home?_ His heart was pounding with embarrassment when he stopped at the crosswalk that leads to Marinette's bakery. He heard footsteps and felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Adrien, do you want a ride home?" Luka asked, gesturing to his bike. Adrien stood in stunned silence for a moment. He was embarrassed at his own behaviour and his tender side finally started coming back.

"Oh, thanks. Really, but I have a ride coming. I was just- going to the bakery while I wait." He laughed and smiled good-naturedly.

"Oh cool, great idea. Marinette's parents are great people. I guess I'll see you around then Adrien." Luka waved and walked back to his bike. Adrien still felt the need to get away so he carried out his incidental plan. Walking into the Dupain-Chen's bakery he felt something he couldn't quite describe. Like coming home after being away for a long time.

"Oh, hello Adrien. Nice to see you again." Sabine greeted him. Adrien's heart filled and he smiled genuinely. Having them as parents-in-law would be the icing on the cake.

"Hello -Cheng." He replied. "It's great to see you too."

"How did the test go? Marinette was working hard all weekend to study for it."

"Oh it was great, and I am sure she is doing good too. She was still writing when I left. Oh, not that I'm that much faster or anything, I am sure she is done now too."

—

"Don't leave me!" Kim mouthed desperately at Marinette. She giggled and walked past him.

"Good luck Kim." She whispered as she closed the classroom door. Marinette gave herself a silent fist pump, the test was practically a breeze compared to the first time.

"How did it go Marinette?" Tikki whispered excitedly, poking her head out of Marinette's purse.

"It went really well," Marinette said in relief. "I think it's finally time to relax and forget everything that happened." Tikki gave her a concerned look.

"You know you're going to have to see him again soon. You can't just ignore him." The red kwami reminded her. Marinette sighed but smiled all the same.

"I know, I just want to forget about it for a little bit." She explained. She patted Tikki's head gently as she continued down the stairs and out the school. As she was walking down the steps she looked towards the street and saw a very familiar blue-haired boy.

"Hey, Luka!" She called happily. He perked up from his position on his bike and stepped towards her. She hurried down the steps towards him and he met her halfway.

"Hi Marinette, it's good to see you." He smiled.

"So what are you doing here? Waiting for Juleka?" Marinette asked curiously. She'd been seeing a lot of him since she started helping with the band, but it was still unusual to see him at the school.

"Actually, I was here for you Marinette. I was hoping I could take you out to thank you for all the help you've given us."

"Really?" she asked. She beamed at him happily, but after a moment she caught herself and glanced at him curiously. "You were waiting here just for me?"

"So, do you want to?" he asked simply.

"I…" She looked down at the sidewalk for a moment. She wanted to talk to Adrien and there were too many things on her mind to burden her friend with. Besides… She didn't want to give him the wrong Idea…

"I'm sorry Luka. I'm grounded, and I don't want to make my parents any more upset. Thank you for the offer though." she apologised sweetly.

"No problem, I should have cleared it with you ahead of time anyways. Maybe next time?" _He looks disappointed..._

"Definitely." She nodded at him with a gentle smile and waved goodbye as she watched him get on his bike and take off. She felt guilty telling him no after he waited for her, but her excuse was technically true. With enough on her plate already she decided to try not to worry about it. She crossed the street and finished the short walk home.

"You've gotten quite popular Marinette." Tikki teased her holder quietly. Marinette rolled her eyes, she opened her mouth to respond but someone had just left the bakery and she didn't want them to overhear. Instead, she looked down at her kwami and gently rubbed her head while giving her a quizzical look.

"Oof!" Marinette walked right into the person that was exiting the bakery. Something sharp was shoved against her chest and she heard a male voice exclaim in surprise.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked. She looked up sharply into the oh-so-familiar eyes of Adrien Agreste. She hopped backwards in a panic to distance herself.


	20. Chapter 20

"Oh! Sorry, Adrien! Are you okay?"

"No, it's alright. Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes! I'm signed- I mean I'm fine! Are you okay?" she asked in a flushed panic. He couldn't help but laugh at the situation and smiled warmly at her despite feeling his nerves rise.

"Don't worry about me-" he urged

"Oh my gosh! I ruined your food!" She shrieked, interrupting him.

"Um…"

Without thinking she tore the slightly dented box from his arms to get a better look. But in her panic, she managed to crush the delicate pastries even more.

"Oh, oh my gosh I am so sorry Adrien! I- I can get you some new ones!"

"Uh- that's okay Marinette…" Adrien tried to tell her, but she turned heel and dashed inside the bakery before he could argue further.

"Mom! Dad! We have an emergency! I ruined _Adrien's_ food!" she cried dramatically.

"Oh Marinette, what happened?" her mother asked. She smiled sympathetically at Adrien as he sheepishly followed Marinette back into the bakery.

Marinette chucked the damaged box into the garbage can and pulled a new box from under the counter. She was about to start throwing pastries in when she felt her fathers enormous hand fall gently onto her shoulder.

"Sweetie, why don't you ask Adrien what kinds he wants?" he prompted her quietly. Knowing his daughter's antics all too well, he stood behind her and watched her collect herself.

"Oh, sorry you're right. Wh-what kinds did you want Adrien?" she asked timidly. He had also taken a moment to collect himself and took a deep breath.

"Ah, Two of those, one of this, and three of these," Adrien smiled and pointed readily at his choice pastries in the glass display case. Marinette carefully picked the best of each and placed them into the new box, when she finished she let out a breath of relief and handed it to him.

"Thank you Marinette, I appreciate it."

"Heh, anything for you. I mean, maybe not _anything_ but you know anything within reason…" she trailed off, embarrassed.

"So Marinette…" Adrien spoke nervously. He felt her parents eyes on them as he cleared his throat, not wanting to miss his chance.

"Do you have, um, any plans later? M-maybe we could… do something?"

"S-something? With you? Of course!" Marinette tried to contain her excitement in front of him.

"Awesome! Maybe we could go to the-" a familiar jolt of sadness ran through him. There was no way he could get away with inviting a friend over.

"Wait, I'm sorry Marinette... now that I think about it actually there's no way Nathalie or my father would allow it." Marinette deflated a little.

"Oh, that's right. Don't worry about it, the last thing I want to do is get you in trouble," she assured him.

Adrian's bodyguard honked.

"I'll text you, er- once I get my phone back," he promised, backing towards the door.

"They took your phone?"

"Sorry, gotta go, bye!"

* * *

"So, what now?" Plagg asked once they had gotten back to Adrien's room. "Are we gonna eat all these pastries by ourselves?"

"Hm, do you think my father would want one?"

"I don't know, seems like a waste to me…" Plagg grumbled, eyeing a particular cheesy pastry with a predatory glance.

"Go ahead." Adrien laughed at his odd companion. Plagg wasted no time diving into the box once he got Adrien's permission. From inside the box, Plagg heard a familiar wistful sigh.

"Oh god, here we go…" The black cat grumbled.

"It's so amazing Plagg, the one good thing in my life and I managed to mess it up…"

"What are you talking about?" Plagg groaned despairingly. "Marinette doesn't know you're a stalker. Just talk to her, what's the big deal?" Plagg happily went about carrying off the pastry and spreading flakes all over Adrien's bed in the process. The model swept them off carelessly before he sat down on the edge.

"Hm, maybe you're right. I have no idea what I'll say when I see Ladybug again. But if I can become closer to Marinette she'll trust me. Then I can be honest with her and tell her who I am!" Adrien stood up, holding his fisted hands up determinedly.

 _Ping!_

Adrien's school tablet rang inside his bag. He quickly pulled it out and looked at the notification on the screen.

"Whaa, 105%?" Plagg gaped. Adrien shrugged dismissively

"There was a bonus question." he smiled at Plagg and hurried out of his room.

"Nathalie, is my father home?" Adrien asked as he entered the foyer of the mansion. The woman in question was standing by the door to Gabriel's office. She looked up in surprise when Adrien rushed in.

"He is." She confirmed. As if on cue Adrien's father emerged from a doorway at the top of the stairs.

"Father-!"

"Nathalie, please call Mrs Bourgeois to confirm the designs for next month's shoot," Gabriel said as he descended the stairs.

"Sir, Mrs Bourgeois' assistant has already called and confirmed with me," Nathalie replied sharply.

"Excellent, then we can proceed as planned." he paused in front of the door as Nathalie opened it for him.

"Father wait!" Adrien called eagerly. Gabriel paused with his hand on the doorknob and waited without looking back.

"I retook the test today father. I got a perfect score, well 105% to be exac-" His father turned back to him, eyes narrowed.

"And? You've only caught up from where you fell behind on Friday. If you plan to continue your education in that school, I suggest you stop wasting everyone's time with your lacklustre performance." his father spat. When he saw his son's shattered expression he inhaled sharply, then swiftly entered his office. Nathalie followed him without another word.

Adrien walked numbly to his room. He tossed his tablet onto his bed carelessly and collapsed into his computer chair.

"Woof," Plagg grunted.

"Woof?"

"He never gets better, does he?" Plagg asked sadly. Adrien sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know what I was expecting." He admitted.

"How about someone that doesn't act like a jerk all the time?" Plagg demanded. He regretted what he said when Adrien's face scrunched up and his frown deepened.

"Uh- I mean, I mean.. That-uh…" As Plagg fumbled to correct himself, Adrien leaned forwards and gently touched one of his computer screens. His mother's image was smiling at him from all three screens.

"She is all I have left. I can't lose her too."

* * *

"Poor Adrien. Sometimes I forget how bad he really has it." Marinette muttered. She had taken up her usual position, sitting in front of her computer with a picture of Adrien on her screen and a sketchbook full of clothing designs open in front of her.

"Fame can be hard." Tikki agreed.

"I mean how strict his dad can be. He didn't even have any friends until he started coming to school…" Marinette smiled sadly.

"You're right. He hadn't even had a birthday party until the day the Bubbler tried to get rid of all the adults." Marinette nodded slowly, frowning.

"That day, Cat Noir said he hadn't seen a birthday party before either..."

"Huh? What's wrong Marinette?" The girl in question groaned in annoyance and pressed her hands into her forehead.

"No, I am not thinking about that now. No Cat Noir." Marinette said stubbornly. Tikki gave a disapproving glare.

"Marinette… try to think of it from his perspective. He was so scared of what he did that he couldn't face you." Tikki reminded her.

"Ugh, serves him right," Marinette muttered. Though she was mad, she thought back to the other night. She couldn't contain herself, she had felt so betrayed in that moment. She felt like she was going to explode. And then he just, ran. Wasn't he the one that prided himself on being brave?

"Hang on, he only said that he followed me. He never said that he actually saw me change back." Marinette said thoughtfully.

"Um, I think we can assume-"

"I never even let him finish, maybe he saw something else?"

"That's crazy Marinette, what else could it have been?" Tikki begged her. Marinette stared at the face on her computer screen. She remembered Cat Noir's face when he forced himself to confess, the only time she had ever seen him that scared was when she jumped into that T-Rex's mouth.

"I need to let him finish." She announced with a determination Tikki was not expecting. The kwami glanced curiously between Marinette and the picture of Adrien on screen. She sighed and smiled at her owner.

"Well then, let go find that kitty then!" Tikki giggled.

* * *

 _Ohhh, I'm getting excited! This started off as a simple one-shot story, and though I wish I had taken a little less time to do so; I've made the story all the way up to a total of 21 chapters. "21?!" You say. That's right! If I don't drastically change my plans for no reason than the next chapter will be the Finale~_

 _A special thank you goes out to anyone that has stuck around for the whole shebang. Even I have abandoned stories I like simply because I forget, or grow bored between breaks. Hope you're all as excited as I am!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Woop, there it is~ Sorry for the wait but I finally caught a current of inspiration and a reading week to write it out._

 _First off, I want to give a special shout out to Rose Tiger. They left a very short review that inspired me to change the way the entire ending played out! Originally they were just gonna meet and talk it out (boring right?). But I'm keeping my promise to finish it in one chapter so strap yourselves in! (Seriously, she's a long one. Like 4X longer than the other chapters)_

 _Just goes to show how invaluable criticism and feedback can be in the creative process! A single word can be the spark that can start a wildfire._

* * *

Gabriel sighed, leaning forward on his desk. Nathalie stepped silently up to him, placing a tablet onto a stand in front of him. His hand was over his tie, right above his miraculous.

"Am I too harsh on him?"

Nathalie paused, thinking carefully on her response.

"Well," She started. "He is just a young boy. You're his father, I believe that you know what's best for him."

Gabriel's expression became unreadable as he considered her vague answer.

"These things have gotten more difficult since Emily…" he shook his head grimly, unable or unwilling to finish that thought. He stood from his desk slowly, closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose as if to ward off a headache.

Without another word, he swiftly crossed the room towards the door in long strides. Nathalie hurried to open it for him and watched him climb the stairs to reach his son's room.

"Adrien?" Gabriel knocked on the door and, without waiting for a response, opened it slightly. The room was quiet and dark, he looked around towards the bed and desk. He threw open the door, fists clenched with fear.

"Adrien?!" He Called more urgently, stomping into the room and looking around. He marched across the room to the bathroom door, which was hanging open slightly, exposing the sliver of darkness from the empty room.

"Sir?" Nathalie's worried voice came from the room's entrance. Gabriel took a deep breath and strode back across the room towards her.

"He seems to have disappeared, again." He said, an eerie calm betraying his seething anger.

"Should I call the police?"

"No, I'm going to take this into my own hands." Nathalie hurried close behind as Gabriel marched toward his office, pressed the familiar secret switches on Emily's portrait and entering the elevator to his secret observatory oom.

"Sir, don't you think citizens could get suspicious if you use an akuma to retrieve Adrien?" Nathalie asked him quickly as she followed him inside.

"Don't worry about that. I don't know what he's thinking running off like this, but he needs to be taught a lesson," Nathalie was given a start as she realized what he was planning.

"You're not going to akumatize Adrien are you?" She demanded, her eyebrows pinching with concern. Gabriel took a deep breath, lacing his hands together behind his back.

"No, I think you are more suited to this task." The elevator came to a stop in the dark and echoing room. Gabriel looked back at his assistant and she quickly nodded at him in understanding. They exited the lift, and the panels covering the window opened, lighting them both in the lazy afternoon sun.

"Nooroo, dark wings rise!" Gabriel chanted.

"Duusu, spread my feathers!" Nathalie called, close behind. With her powers activated she closed her eyes to focus on the buzzing source of hurt she could feel through her unstable miraculous.

"Well well!" She said, fanning herself gently.

"This is a pleasant surprise!" Hawkmoth agreed. He could have sworn the emotions he sensed were from his son. But a similar tidal wave of fear and rejection could be felt through a haze of powerful magic.

Cat Noir.

"We must take advantage of this!" He commanded when Mayura looked to him.

"What about Adrien?" She asked quietly from behind her fan. He turned on her, his expression lighting up with eagerness.

"We can't let this chance go to waste!" He caught a butterfly and corrupted it into an akuma. She watched it tumble lazily into the sky, and pulled a feather from her fan, blowing the amok after the akuma.

* * *

Cat Noir sprung across the street between the roofs of two buildings. He walked towards the edge and looked out across the plaza in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. His hands were shaking, he took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Unbeknownst to him, a dark butterfly approached him from behind, closely followed by a deep purple feather. _I need to think this through, if I push too much she'll never want to see me again. I'll have to give up my miraculous so she can fight with someone she can stand…_

He imagined Ladybug, standing on a rooftop with the wind blowing in her hair. She looked back, smiling, as her partner approached to stand at her side. It was Cat Noir, new and improved, Ladybug said something clever and when Cat Noir laughed Luka's voice rang in Adrien's ears.

The akuma flitted right above his head.

He blinked rapidly, attempting to shake himself out of it. He cleared his throat and pulled his staff off of his back and revealed the screen. His heart skipped with excitement when he saw that he had a recent missed call from Ladybug just before he had transformed.

The akuma jerked back in the air, recoiling from Cat Noir's change in emotion.

Smirking with exhilaration he pressed the redial button and held the staff close to his ear. It had barely started to ring when she picked up.

"Cat Noir?" she demanded.

"Heh. Who else would it be?" he asked lightheartedly. There was a pause, on her end there was a sharp breath.

"Right. Um, where are you right now?"

"I'm in front of your place," he responded casually, without thinking.

"What!? Don't-! Don't say that!" She sighed angrily, blowing air into the receiver. "You can't be associated with me- with them! You're going to put us all in danger!" she cried in exasperation. He flinched, palming himself on the forehead in frustration at himself.

"I'm sorry, you're right."

She sighed again, much more gently, and then paused for several seconds.

"Uh, the Louvre, meet me at the Louvre. We need to talk." She said diplomatically.

"Right, of course. I'll be right there," he said. She hung up on him. He kicked angrily at the roof tiles beneath his feet.

"Yea, I stalked you, I know where you live, why don't I rub it in some more?" He said aloud in a mocking voice. He let out a ragged breath and slumped forward in exaggerated defeat.

"Man, can't I say anything without making someone upset?"

The akuma and amok descended towards him again. In his peripheral vision, he noticed the dark forms against the clear blue sky. He spun around, backing away from the butterfly and feather.

"Really?!" he cried. "This now?!" the akuma ducked towards him and he dashed away, leaping to another building. He kept running, heading south in hopes of reaching the Louvre before one of them caught him. But he knew it would take him nearly 20 minutes to get there, and they were keeping up.

As he vaulted across an intersection he saw the akuma right behind him, as he landed it dipped inches from his head. Heart pounding he turned towards it, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _She is right to be upset. This is a big deal and I messed up, but It's dumb for me to get akumatized over this!_

He opened his eyes and glared daggers at the offending butterfly and feather.

"Leave me alone!" he said firmly _._ He pulled out his staff and held it in front of him as if guarding his emotions. _I can't let this happen._ The amok dove after him again, he took a deep breath; and sneezed.

As he did so, he watched in horror as the amok was blown abruptly towards the end of his staff. The feather materialized into it, consuming his weapon in a familiar purple ooze.

The fear of being rejected, the pain of being abandoned by the only one he could trust, it was amplified into horrific echoing inside his skull. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto all fours. The akuma, close behind, flitted in and landed on the ring on Cat Noir's clenched fist.

"I am Hawkmoth, it's an honour to finally speak to you." a familiar voice sneered.

"Cat Noir, I am Mayura." A female voice echoed in his head.

"No, shut up! Get out of my head!" Cat Noir growled, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You're feeling abandoned by the person you trust the most. You don't need her when you have your own power. " Hawkmoth said triumphantly.

"My sentimonster will protect you from her pain," Mayura added.

"She would be ashamed of me if I let myself get taken over by you..." Cat Noir said uncertainty.

"We can help you, you don't need to worry about what she thinks of you anymore. We will free you from the burden of caring for someone that will only take advantage of you." Hawkmoth said in a condescendingly soothing tone.

"Let us help to put you at ease."

* * *

"Right, of course. I'll be right there," he said. With that Ladybug snapped her yo-yo closed and turned towards the Louvre. But she paused; a strange feeling of dread settled in her heart. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of her house uneasily, but then she leapt across the gap, _trust him,_ she told herself. _I did trust him,_ her inner voice responded bitterly.

She was standing on a narrow strip of the roof on a taller section of the Louvre; adjacent to the famous glass pyramid. She had been waiting for only a few minutes, it should take him another 15 or more to arrive and she was silently glad for the time to collect her thoughts.

Something unconscious caused her to turn her head back in the direction she came.

 _I bet he'll chicken out._

There was a low, distant noise. Almost like an explosion. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned her body fully back.

There were more, getting steadily louder. Every couple seconds there was a stomach-clenching thud that echoed across the city, followed by distant screams.

She started running across the buildings towards her home. A few streets over she grabbed a flagpole and hung off it, looking into the distance. An enormous white shape was bounding across the rooftops towards her. Every building it set foot on crumbled and exploded from a strange force, sending concrete and rubble cascading into the streets.

She raised her miraculous, using the camera to zoom in. It was an enormous white cat. Easily the size of a bus, but it still seemed too small to be causing that level of damage from its size alone. _A sentimonster?!_

She closed the camera to call Cat Noir, lowering her yo-yo and glancing up again as it rang. She barely had enough time to react, the huge creature was suddenly right on top of her. She dove off the building in a shower of debris. People were screaming below her, then around her as she collided with the pavement. Bystanders scattered, and the cat landed elegantly in front of her. Despite the rough landing, she stood up, stumbling over the rubble to stand ready before the creature.

It stooped, allowing a figure to slide easily onto the ground. It was Cat Noir, only, his bell was silver and his costume was completely white. He smirked at her from under his golden fringe, a pair of ethereal purple eyes glimmering darkly.

"C-Cat Noir?" she spluttered. He swung his staff behind his head and draped his arms over it.

"Surprised Bugaboo? You shouldn't be," The sentimonster hissed; a powerful, low noise that she could feel in her chest.

"Seriously? You got akumatized?" she cried in exasperation.

"Just give me your earrings Bugaboo, you know how this is going to end." he held his hand out towards her. She looked him in the eyes and relaxed her posture.

"I promise I'll save you from them Cat Noir." She ran right at him.

He jumped back in surprise and extended his staff at her. Expecting this, she jumped off of it grappling a building across the street and reeling herself into the air. Upon landing, she glanced back as she continued to run. The sentimonster launched itself after her, landing behind her just as she landed on the next roof. The building behind her exploded from the mysterious force and propelled her as she jumped forwards.

Just as she went to land on the eaves of the building a great shadow fell over her. The lithe form of the cat descended onto her once again. As it landed a small cloud of white erupted from its paws before the building was forced apart from it. In a moment of desperation, she grappled a larger piece of the building as it fell. Pulling herself away from the destruction. A great force hit her left side, the mini-fridge sized white paw of the sentimonster batting at her.

She was knocked unceremoniously across the street, slamming into the side of a building. She scrambled for a hold and hooked her fingers around a windowsill. She allowed herself a precious moment to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?!" an achingly familiar voice cried out right above her. She took a shuddering breath and flipped herself onto the rooftop, stumbling into him.

"Woah, so eager?" Cat Blanc purred. She pushed his chest as hard as she could and send him spilling over the rooftop. She started running again and ducked behind a chimney, panting. All was quiet for a moment.

"What's a matter Bugaboo? Don't wanna play with your favourite kitty?" He called out tauntingly.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cried and tossed her yo-yo above her head. A red, heart-shaped card appeared in the air and gently fell into her hands. She stared at it, heart pounding.

"Whacha' get?" Cat Blanc asked in a harsh whisper. She shrieked and threw her yo-yo at him, hitting him square in the forehead. She faced him as he rubbed his forehead incredulously.

"Why am I always the target?" he hissed sourly. He opened his arms and stepped towards her. "I don't want to hurt you, hurting others is your job."

"Cat Noir, I never hurt anyone. You need to get your head on right!"

"Try Cat Blanc. But that's okay, I forgive you. Hey, wasn't that easy? Listen I'll do it again. I am sorry."

"Ugh, I never had a chance to say anything. You're the only one hurting you right now." She held the paper close to her chest as he backed her, limping, towards the edge of the building. She glanced at the canal beneath them, the sentimonster appeared at her left side

"Wh- why are you mad? Can't we talk about this?" She asked pleadingly.

"You've lost your chance Bugaboo," He scowled. "Petrify". Balls of light gathered around his right hand, swelling into his palm as he closed his clawed fingers around it.

"You were the one that ran away, I barely even said anything!"

"Oh don't get me wrong, there were other things. But you were my rock, you were the light at the end of the tunnel! Do you have any idea how it feels to see that light go out?!" He pulled off his staff with his left hand and extend it so the end smashed through the corner of the building behind her, caging her in.

"This is the akuma talking! I would have forgiven you, you know that!" She gritted her teeth and strained backwards as he reached his glowing hand towards her. He slowed to a stop, baring his teeth in an inhuman hiss.

"You know how this will end. So hand over your earrings," he said quickly. "Or if you prefer, I could let the cat out of the bag." He leaned in, whispering, "You know Hawkmoth and the peacock lady are listening right? Who knows what they could get up to if they knew who you really are."

She smirked, pressing her shaking hands against the letter. "Conceding defeat already?" she said, trying to sound playful. She wanted to laugh at how surprised he looked.

"N-no, I just mean-"

"I told you I wanted to talk to you, but I can't do it like this," She stepped up to him and grabbed his collar with both hands, eliciting a surprised grunt from him.

"Don't let them do this Cat Noir. Please." she looked right into his eyes, pleading. His right hand instinctively moved away from her body.

"Ugh," despite himself, a blush crept onto his cheeks.

Purple light clouded his peripheral vision and Hawkmoth's voice rang in his head. " **Do it! Take her miraculous! Petrify her!"** When he looked at her he could only feel hurt, he _wanted_ to do as Hawkmoth said; so why wouldn't his body move?

The sentimonster pounded it's paw in frustration on the roof, shattering the building and causing the roof to split and collapse in the centre. Cat Blanc stumbled backwards, allowing Ladybug an opening to escape. But she stayed where she was.

"I-" he started.

"Please? For me?" she begged. He stared at her with a baffled expression. The sentimonster stepped back, snorting like an anxious horse.

"I- I. Why would I… But you…"

" **What are you doing!? You had her, take her miraculous!"** Hawkmoth screamed in his mind. Cat Blanc pressed the staff against his forehead.

"I-I don't like this! I told you I wouldn't fall for your tricks!" he yelled. The strain to think clearly caused tears to pool in his eyes. He could feel the pull of the akuma in his ring.

"Then don't!" Ladybug called encouragingly. She stepped forward and grabbed his left hand forcing the end of his staff into his glowing right hand. His weapon took on a frosted appearance and at once the sentimonster behind him collapsed. She held the staff curiously, it still felt extremely firm in her grip. Cat Blanc reached out desperately and his claws ripped the staff from her hands. In his panic, the staff slid from his hand and hit the roof where it shattered like glass. The giant cat finally disappeared and the amok emerged from the shards.

Ladybug stepped away from him and caught the feather quickly.

"I am not so easy to take advantage of," Cat Blanc yelled angrily. Ladybug hopped away from him when he stared at her with an intense look of anger. She couldn't help a sharp sigh of disappointment, or the pain she felt from his expression.

He raised his arm and snarled "Petrify." Ladybug crumpled the letter in her hand and started swinging her yo-yo, ready for his advance.

He flexed his fingers around the ball on energy, glancing at his hand and then to her. He took a step forward and swung his arm up, only to slam his hand against his chest.

"No!" she cried out, realizing too late what he was doing. An eerie white film fell over his eyes, muting the toxic purple hue they had taken on. He stood frozen, knees bent slightly, chin tilted up, eyes wide and determined.

* * *

Hawkmoth stomped like a frustrated child. Mayura simply stared at him with a bewildered expression.

"Such an amazing opportunity, wasted!" he wailed angrily.

"What happened?" she asked cautiously. He tsk'd.

" I've never felt resistance like that before. The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are on another level." He marvelled. Mayura stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps it was for the best. We still need to find Adrien." she reminded him.

"Your right, he should be my priority…" He said slowly, eyes unfocused as if looking elsewhere.

* * *

Ladybug finally took a second to catch her breath. She wanted to curl up into a ball, but she knew there would be a way to fix it; there had to be.

She reached for the ring on his right hand and started sliding it off with some difficulty. When she finally got it loose a dull crack rang out from his frozen hand. She quickly pulled the ring off without further incident. His ring was a matte white with a purple paw print in the centre, a single pad flashing to indicate his time left.

"The akuma is in his ring right?" she asked nobody. "How do I…"

 _Hawkmoth smirked._

If she couldn't break a miraculous, how was she supposed to release the akuma? Her usual problem solving was clouded by panic. Cat Noir sacrificed himself because he knew he couldn't fight Hawkmoth's control. But how was she supposed to destroy an indestructible ring?

 _I need to restore him! Obviously, but how much can Hawkmoth see? If the akuma is still in his ring won't he still be under his influence?_

She clasped her hands over her mouth and backed away from Cat Noir's body. The horror of her reality sinking in. Hawkmoth was essentially holding Cat Noir hostage until the akuma was removed.

A soft sound at her feet made her look down at the crumpled letter she had dropped. She thought of how upset Cat Noir had been. She thought of how terrible it would be to lose him. She felt the tears threaten to spill from her eyes and let the feeling of helplessness take front and centre in her mind.

" **Yes!"**

The akuma burst from the ring, making a b-line for her earrings. But she was ready, she had her yo-yo open in her hand and she snapped up the butterfly inches from her face.

"Gotcha'," she said breathlessly. She grabbed the letter from the ground and opened her yo-yo to let the pure white feather and butterfly out into the sky.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled, throwing the crumpled paper above her head.

The level of destruction around her was truly cataclysmic, downed buildings covering entire blocks across the city. But the magic ladybugs made it all like it was just a bad dream. She almost wanted to watch her beloved city for a while to make sure everything was okay, but someone was stirring behind her.

She knelt next to Adrien and helped him as he tried to sit upright.

"Ugh…. Ladybug?"

"How are you feeling?" she asked him gently.

"I'm- fine," he assured her. "The last thing I remember was that I was on my way to meet you and…" He looked into her eyes with horror as he realised what must have happened. He could see tear tracks running down her face, her expression finally breaking as they made eye-contact.

"How could you be so reckless?!" she cried, dragging him into a tight embrace.

"I-i'm so sorry Ladybug." he gasped after a moment of shock. Her earrings beeped one last time before she was engulfed in light and Tikki fell out of her miraculous.

"Adrien?" Plagg asked weakly. The black kwami sat up as his red counterpart approached and landed in front of him.

"I think they need a minute," Tikki said gently, offering him half of her macaron.

* * *

Hawkmoth sighed deeply and stood silent for a long moment. Mayura was still unclear on what had transpired.

"Nooroo, dark wings fall," he said solemnly. "Nathalie, call the chief of police, I need to find Adrien."

"Uh, Yes sir. Duusu, fall my feathers." Gabriel started walking towards the elevator with a grave expression and Nathalie looked on as he walked past her. She pressed her hand over her mouth to stifle a cough and stumbled slightly where she stood.

"Are you okay miss?!" Duusu cried dramatically. Natalie quickly shushed her kwami. Dismissing her worries as she turned to follow Gabriel.

* * *

Adrien, still gathering himself, simply held Marinette as she sobbed into his neck. He saw his own hands on her back and realized that they were un-gloved.

"Marinette. What happened?" She pulled back, wiping her tears with her sleeves. She sat down next to him on the rough rooftop.

"You got taken over by Hawkmoth and Mayura," she laughed, despite the tears in her eyes. "The damage from that sentimonster was horrible."

"I'm sorry. All of this happened because of me." he glanced around. "And you had to fight an akuma and a sentimonster by yourself?!"

"I am pretty amazing, but I can't take the credit. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"I seriously doubt that." he sighed, looking downcast. Marinette cleared her throat as the tears subsided, but a palpable awkwardness was beginning to form as Adrien continued to stare silently at his hands.

"Ugh. Listen. You made a mistake, okay? This stuff happens, but there is no use beating yourself up over it." she assured him. He smiled sadly and looked back at her.

"Huh? What are you…?" he spluttered. Marinette was looking decidedly to one side with her hand up to shield her view of him.

"J-just give m-me a second okay!?" she stammered outrageously, cheeks glowing red. He couldn't help but laugh at her familiar antics.

"So, what do you think?" he asked cautiously, scratching the back of his head. She sighed and lowered her hand, placing it firmly on her lap.

"I figured it out the other day," she relented

"What, really?"

"Yes, really, and I didn't make a huge scene of it!" she gave him a pointed look.

"Hey…"

"Really, you're too obvious Cat Noir- Uh, Adrien… W-we both need to be more careful,"

"I agree. I just wish-"

"No" she stopped him.

"Huh?"

"No ifs or buts. Okay? We'll just have to deal with it now." she commanded, pointing a stern finger at him. He smiled genuinely, his eyes reflecting a deep warmth seldom known by someone so young. He reached out and gently took her hand in his.

"Okay."

"And I put you in the casket!" Mariette cried despairingly, pressing her free hand against her face.

"It's okay, I would have done the same thing. Oh, remember Frightningale?"

"Oh yeah, of course! Oh man, I guess we were in the same boat then, huh?"

It started getting dark, the hours vanishing behind them as they had been talking about everything and nothing.

Adrien stretched out, extending his back against the wall they were sitting against. As he stretched he yawned and brought his arms up, pulling Marinette's hand with him. She let go of his hand to cover her mouth as she let out a yawn of her own.

"Speaking of the same boat…" he commented absentmindedly.

"Yeah, it's late." Marinette sighed sadly.

Adrien stood, offering her a hand again to help her up.

"Is this really okay?" Plagg whispered anxiously to Tikki. She simply shrugged at him, smiling softly at the two heroes. The red kwami flew over to her owner's shoulder and shared a smile with her.

"Tikki-"

"Wait!"

Marinette stopped and blinked at him in surprise He looked to the side, a light blush spreading over his face.

"I- I wanted to say bye to Tikki…" he said. Tikki giggled and flew closer to Adrien.

"Thank you for taking care of her Tikki," he said bashfully, "It was nice to finally meet you."

"Awe, thank you, it was nice to meet you to Adrien!" she giggled sweetly.

"And, uh. Before you transform, I wanted to try something. I-if I can…" Adrien said sheepishly, turning back to Marinette.

"Huh?" she squealed. Adrien smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and stepping up to her. He reached out his hand and gently cupped her cheek, she could feel the cold metal of his miraculous against her skin.

She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes.

"Bleh," Plagg groaned as he caught on to the situation.

She could feel his breath on her face as he drew closer.

"ATTENTION ALL PARISIAN CITIZENS, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ADRIEN AGRESTE. HIS FATHER IS VERY WORRIED AND WANTS HIM HOME SAFE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" The voice of Officer Roger rang out through the static of his megaphone.

Adrien and Marinette sprang away from each other as they were interrupted. The roar of a helicopter nearby intensified as it neared the building they were on. The officer's voice came from the helicopter as he repeated the message, a large searchlight sweeping the streets and rooftops as it passed.

"Uh oh," Plagg said simply.

* * *

 _Hope it was worth the wait! What started as a little one-shot story took on a life of its own. A huge thanks to everyone that stuck it out, and I don't blame any of you if you forgot about this story. Have an awesome Halloween everyone!_

* * *

Bonus~

"Please don't blame him, sir, there was an akuma. A jealous fan targeted him." Ladybug pleaded.

She had carried Adrien home after the Helicopter moved on. She knew she should leave, but she couldn't help defending him from his father's overprotective rage.

Gabriel squinted suspiciously.

"I see, that seem very dangerous indeed. I will take it into consideration, thank you for your service Ladybug."'

She giggled nervously and planted her hands on her hips, trying to look confident in front of such an intimidating man. _And future father-in-law!_

"Well, if everything is okay, then I should get going!" She turned away from Adrien hesitantly and waved goodbye.

"Thank you Ladybug!" Adrien called. The two of them watched the Heroine jump out the window and reel into the night sky.

They stood in silence. Adrien was just waiting for whatever terrible punishment he would get. Finally, he swallowed thickly and said:

"I'm sorry father…"

"Don't be," Gabriel tutted. To Adrien's shock, Gabriel placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Congratulations on your perfect score. Such a grade in inevitable of course. But it's still good to see you can work through your issues on your own."

Adrien couldn't help the tears that quickly filled his eyes.

"Thank you father," he said quietly. Another big shock came when Gabriel placed his arms around his son stiffly and held him for a few seconds. Then he released him and turned to leave his sons bedroom.

"Natalie will discuss your punishment with you in the morning. Goodnight, Adrien." Gabriel dismissed.

"Uh, Goodnight father..." Adrien turned back into his room and sat on his bed.

Gabriel gave him one last sceptical glance as he closed the door.


End file.
